^^rJ^/ 
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-OF- 


ROCHESTER,    MASS., 


jUr,v 


UCSB   LIBRARY 


WOOTONEKAMUSKE. 

CHARLOTTE  L.  MITCHELL. 


TEWELEMA. 

MELINDA  MITCHELL. 


^ROCHESTER'S 


OFFICIAL 


BI-CENTE1IAL  RECORD. 


TUESDAY,  JULY  22,  1879. 


CONTAINING  THE  HISTORICAL  ADDRESS  OF  REV.  N.  \V. 

EVERETT;  THE  RESPONSES  BY  LIEUT.-GOV.  LONG, 

HON.  W.  W.  CEAPO.  M.C.,  JUDGE  THOS.  RUSSELL, 

AND  OTHERS. 


ALSO,  A  FULL  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE 

DAY. 


NEW    BEDFORD: 

MERCURY   PUBLISHING  COMPANY,   PRINTERS. 
1879. 


Prior  to  the  Rochester  El-Centennial  Celebration,  July  22d,  1879, 
it  was  suggested  that  the  proceedings  of  the  day  be  published.  Acting 
upon  that  desire  a  committee,  consisting  of  Capt.  Chas.  Bryant,  A.  W. 
Bisbee,  Esq.,  and  Rev.  N.  W.  Everett,  have  compiled  the  matter  per- 
taining to  the  Celebration,  to  the  best  of  their  ability.  We  trust  our 
efforts  have  been  successful  and  that  the  Record  will  be  preserved  for 
future  generations. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTORY 


THE  CELEBRATION— 

Procession  .......    ....................................  •" 

The  Decorations  ........................................  ^ 

Guests  .................................................  a- 

Exercises  at  the  Grove  ..................................  10 

ORATION  .....................................................  17 

DINNER  ......................................................  *1 

AFTER-DINNER  EXERCISES— 

Sentiments  and  Responses  .............................  72 


CONCLUSION 


APPENDIX— 

Correspoudence  ........................................  1  19 

Daughters  of  the  Forest  ...........  .  .....................  121 

A  Scrap  of  History  ............  .........................  122 

Minister  Rock  ..........................................  123 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CEtppL 


INTRODUCTORY. 

The  Town  of  Rochester,  Plymouth  County,  Massachu- 
setts, received  its  name  from  the  ancient  city  of  Rochester, 
in  Kent,  England,  whence  many  of  the  first  settlers  came. 
It  is  recorded  in  history  that  the  oysters  found  on  those 
shores  were  celebrated  by  the  Romans  for  their  excellence 
and  our  ancestors  finding  an  abundance  of  delicious  shell- 
fish here,  in  memory  of  their  former  home  very  appropriate- 
ly gave  to  this  tract  the  name  of  Rochester. 

A  few  years  ago  the  voters  of  Rochester,  in  town  meet- 
ing assembled,  directed  Joseph  S.  Luce,  Esq.,  (the  present 
chairman  of  the  selectmen  of  Marion)  to  copy  the  old 
proprietors'  records.  It  may  be  proper  here  to  state  that 
the  "Sepecan"  grant  embraced  what  is  now  Rochester,  Mar- 
ion, Mattapoisett,  and  the  greater  portion  of  Wareham. 
Mr.  I*uce  still  has  the  records  in  his  possession,  and  last 
Winter  called  the  attention  of  the  authorities  of  the  several 
towns  to  the  fact  that  on  the  22d  day  of  July,  1679,  the  first 
meeting  of  the  proprietors  was  held  at  Plymouth,  and  steps 
taken  towards  forming  a  settlement  at  "Sepecan,"  the  por- 
tion then  best  known.  He  also  suggested  that  the  22d  of 
July,  1879,  the  two-hundredth  anniversary  of  the  first  set- 


4  ROCHESTER S    BI-CENTENNIAL. 

tlement  be  commemorated  by  appropriate  ceremonies.  In 
accordance  with  his  views  an  article  was  inserted  in  the 
several  warrants  to  see  what  action  the  towns  would  take  in 
regard  to  a  celebration.  Rochester  chose  a  committee  con- 
sisting of  H.  H.  Bennett,  Alden  Rounsville,  Jr.,  Nahinn  F. 
Morse,  (the  board  of  selectmen),  Thomas  Ellis  and  A.  W. 
Bisbee.  The  committee  chosen  by  Wureham  was  Cap't. 
Alden  Besse,  Capt.  Benj.  F.  Gibbs,  Geo.  F.  Wing,  (select- 
men), E.  B.  Powers,  L.  H.  Bartlett  and  E.  A.  Gammons. 
Marion  voted  an  appropriation  of  $100,  and  chose  as  her 
committee  the  three  selectmen,  Joseph  S.  Luce,  Capt.  Obed 
Delano  and  Capt.  -I.  N.  Hathaway,  also  Dr.  H.  C.  Vose 
and  I.  N.  Lewis.  Mattapoisett's  committee  consisted  of 
Capt.  Joseph  R.  Taber,  Jarvis  N.  Ellis,  Capt.  Franklin 
Cross. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  several  committees  Avas  held  at 
Town  %Hall,  Marion,  April  21st,  1879.  Capt.  Benj.  F. 
Gibbs,  Wareham,  was  chosen  chairman  ;  Augustine  W.  Bis- 
bee, Rochester,  secretary ;  Capt.  I.  N.  Hathaway,  Mar- 
ion, treasurer.  It  was  unanimously  voted  to  have  a  celebra- 
tion on  the  22d  of  July.  Mr.  Luce  stated  that  in  the  ab- 
sence of  official  records  as  to  when  the  first  house  was  built 
it  would  be  well  to  commemorate  the  two-hundredth  anni- 
versary of  the  proprietors'  meeting  at  the  date  of  the  first 
settlement.  It  was  at  first  decided  to  have  the  celebration 
at  Little  Neck,  the  head  of  Marion  harbor,  on  account  of  the 
historical  associations  connected  with  the  spot.  Afterwards 
it  was  deemed  expedient  to  change  the  location  to  H^ndy's 
Grove,  about  a  mile  from  Marion  station,  on  the  Rochester 
road. 

The  committee  held  several  meetings  and  chose  sub-com- 
mittees as  follows  : 

To  Solicit  Funds. — Capt.  Judah  Hathaway  and  George 
W.  Humphrey,  from  Rochester;  Capt.  Alden  Besse  and 


ROCHESTER'S  SI-CENTENNIAL.  5 

Geo.  F.  Wing,  from  Wareham ;  Capt.  I.  N.  Hathaway  and 
J.  S.  Luce,  Esq.,  from  Marion ;  -Capt.  Joseph  R.  Taber  and 
Capt.  Franklin  Cross,  from  Mattapoisett. 

Dinner. —  Geo.  Wi  Humphrey  and  Thomas  Ellis,  of 
Rochester ;  Capt.  Alden  Besse  and  Geo.  F.  Wing,  of  Ware- 
ham  ;  Capt.  Obed  Delano  and  Joseph  S.  Luce,  of  Marion ; 
Dr.  Thomas  E.  Sparrow  and  Thomas  Nelson,  of  Mattapoi- 
sett. 

Grounds. — Capt.  Reuben  F.  Hart,  Leander  Cowing  and 
Capt.  I.  N.  Hathaway,  of  Marion. 

Martial  Music. —  Capt.  B.  F.  Gibbs,  Wareham  ;  Capt. 
Joseph  R.  Taber,  Mattapoisett. 

Guests. —  A.  W.  Bisbee,  Rochester;  Capt.  B.  F.  Gibbs, 
Wareham ;  J.  S.  Luce,  Marion  ;  and  Capt.  Charles  Bryant, 
Mattapoisett. 

Reception,  Procession  and  Transportation. —  Clark  P. 
Howland,  Marion  ;  Edward  A.  Gammons,  Wareham;  Lem- 
uel LeBaron  Holmes,  Mattapoisett ;  Augustine  W.  Bisbee, 
Rochester. 

Vocal  Music. —  Capt.  Obed  Delano,  Geo.  Mason  Delano, 
Joseph  S.  Luce*,  Marion. 

Printing. —  Capt.  Charles  Bryant,  Mattapoisett. 

Decorations. —  Capt.  John  G.  Dexter,  Rochester ;  Capt. 
Alden  Besse,  Wareham ;  Capt.  Reuben  F.  Hart,  Marion  ; 
Geo.  Purrington,  Jr.,  Mattapoisett. 

Police. —  Selectmen  of  Marion,  Joseph  S.  Luce,  Capt. 
Obed  Delano,  Capt.  I.  N.  Hathaway. 

General  Committee  (in  addition) . — Geo.  Purrington,  Jr., 
Lemuel  LeB.  Holmes,  Henry  Barstow,  Mattapoisett ;  Capt. 
Judah  Hathaway,  Rochester ;  Clark  P.  Howland,  Marion ; 
which  filled  the  number  to  six  from  each  town. 

Seats  and  Tables. —  Geo.  W.  Humphrey,  Rochester; 
Geo.  F.  Wing,  Wareham ;  J.  S.  Luce,  Marion ;  Capt. 
Charles  Bryant,  Mattapoisett. 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTEIJNIAL. 
The  committee  also  made  the  following  appointments  as 

OFFICERS   OF   THE   DAY. 

Gerard  C.  Tobey,  Esq.,  of  Wareham,  President. 
Wilson  Barstow,  Esq«,  of  Mattapoisett,  Vice  President* 
Geo.  Purriugton,  Jr.,  of  Mattapoisett,  Chief  Marshal. 
Rev.  H.  C.  Vose,  of  Marion,  Toast  Master. 
Rev.  William  Leonard,  of  North  Rochester,  Chaplain. 

At  the  first  meeting  of  the  committee  it  was  unanimously 
Voted  that  Rev.  Noble  Warren  Everett,  of  Wareham,  a 
grandson  of  the  Rev.  Noble  Everett,  one  of  the  eatly  minis- 
ters of  the  old  township,  be  requested  to  act  as  the  orator 
of  the  day.  Mr.  Everett  accepted  the  position. 

The  Standish  Guards  of  Plymouth,  Co.  H»,  1st  Regiment 
Infantry,  M»  V»  M«,  Herbert  Morissey,  Capt.,  tendered 
their  services  as  escort  on  the  occasion  and  were  accepted. 

The  Middleboro  Brass  Band,  22  men,  J.  M.  Carter,  lead- 
er ;  were  engaged  for  the  day. 

The  Chief  Marshal  selected  for  his  aids  Joseph  L.  Cole 
and  Henry  A.  Shurtleff,  of  Mattapoisett ;  Win.  H.C.  Delano 
and  Dr.  Robert  T.  Delano,  of  Marion. 

Invitations  were  extended  to  State  officials  and  prominent 
men  to  be  present,  also  to  former  residents  of  the  town, 
and  long  before  the  day  of  the  celebration  it  was  evident 
scores  would  return  to  the  place  of  their  birth  and  partici- 
pate in  the  enjoyment  of  the  occasion. 

Arrangements  were  made  with  the  Old  Colony  railroad 
for  reduced  fares  and  extra  trains. 

The  dinner  committee  contracted  with  Otis  A.  Sisson  and 
L.  W.  Carl,  of  New  Bedford,  to  furnish  the  dinner. 

Your  committee  held  nine  meetings  and  their  proceedings 
were  characterized  by  harmony  and  unanimity.  We  are 
pleased  to  add  that  we  had  the  hearty  co-operation  of  the 
citizens  of  the  old  township  and  that  they  seconded  our  plans 


ROCHESTER'S  SI-CENTENNIAL*  7 

iind  efforts  to  a  degree  which  made  the  celebration  a  perfect 
success »  The  contributions  were  liberal  and  freely  given, 
Old  Rochester  can  justly  be  proud  of  her  record  for  the  last 
two  hundred  years,  and  from  the  lessons  of  the  past  be 
guided  in  the  future  to  still  nobler  deeds  of  usefulness. 
This  event  has  rescued  from  oblivion  very  much  that  would 
have  been  forgotten  and  generations  to  come  will  read  with 
interest  the  proceedings  of  to-day. 


ROCHESTER  S    BI-CENTENNIAL. 

THE  CELEBRATION. 

At  an  early  hour  in  the  morning  the  street  leading  to  the 
Grove  was  thronged  with  residents  and  visitors.  The  arri- 
val of  teams  brought  numbers  from  adjoining  towns.  The 
weather  was  propitious  and  all  that  could  be  desired,  al- 
though in  the  morning  there  were  slight  indications  of  rain. 
Four  hundred  and  ninety-one  excursion  tickets  by  railroad 
were  sold  at  Fairhaven  and  two  hundred  and  forty  at  Matta- 
poisett,  in  addition  to  which  probably  three  times  that  num- 
ber came  by  carriage  from  New  Bedford  and  vicinity.  The 
train  from  Boston  brought  the  State  officials,  Middleboro 
Band,£>tandish  Guards,  and  a  host  of  visitors.  At  the  least 
calculation  some  six  thousand  people  were  in  attendance  to 
do  honor  to  the  occasion. 

PKOCESSION. 

The  opening  feature  of  the  proceedings  was  a  procession 
which  moved  to  the  Grove  in  the  following  order  from  the 
Marion  depot : 

New  Bedford  Police,  4  men,  H.  W.  Bnmpus  in  command. 

Geo.  Purrington,  Jr.,  Mattapoisett,  Marshal. 

Aids :— Joseph  L.  Cole,  Henry  A.  Shurtleff',  Mattapoisett;  W.  H.  C.  Del- 
ano and  Dr.  R.  T.  Delano.  Marion. 
Middleboro  Brass  Band.  J.  M.  Carter,  leader. 
Standish  Guards,  of  Plymouth,  38  men,  Co.  H.,  1st  Regt.  Infantry,  M. 

V.  M.,  Herbert  Moriss-y,  Captain. 

Carnages  containing  Gerard  C.  Tobey,  of  Wareham ;  Wilson  T.  Barstow, 

of  Mattapoisett;   President  and  Vice  President  of  the  day:  Rev. 

Noble   Warren  Everett,   Wareham.   Orator;  Dr.  H.  C.  Vose, 

Marion,  Toast  Master :  Rev.  William  Leonard, 
•  Rochester,  Chaplain. 

Speakers  and  Invited  Guests. 

Committee    of    Arrangements,    Capt.  B.   F.    Gibbs,    East  Wareham. 

Chairman. 
Clergy. 

Representatives  of  the  Press. 

Town  officers  of  Rochester,  Wareham.  Marion,  and  Mattapoisett. 
Residents  and  past  residents  of  the  four  towns. 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  9 

The  invited  guests  were  conveyed  in  hacks  procured  from 
Xew  Bedford.  The  route  was  thronged  on  either  side  by 
visitors  and  presented  a  very  animated  appearance.  On  the 
arrival  of  the  procession  at  the  grove,  the  officers  of  the 
day  and  distinguished  guests  were  conducted  to  seats  on  the 
platform  while  the  crowd  collected  around  in  a  dense  mass. 

THE   DECORATIONS. 

The  decorations  at  the  grove  were  put  up  by  Messrs.  "W". 
H.  C.  Delano  and  W.  P.  Delano,  the  Misses  Delano  and 
Hathaway,  and  were  very  good. 

A  heavy  arch  of  green  branches  spanned  the  entrance  from 
the  highway  to  the  grounds.  Flags  were  flying  by  the  side 
of  the  avenue,  near  the  arch,  and  the  entrance  at  the  grove. 
Drapery  of  National  colors  hung  from  pine  to  pine.  The 
speaker's  stand  had  over  it  and  extending  far  beyond  the 
sides  a  long  line  of  festooned  bunting ;  and  in  front  of  the 
stand  was  a  large  white  banner  inscribed  July  22,  1879, 

Rochester  Bi-Centennial.     The  letters   were  two  feet  hi«fh 

o 

and  formed  of  one-cent  flags  affixed  to  the  face  of  the  banner. 
A  canopy  of  sail-cloth  protected  the  speakers  and  the  stand 
was  so  placed  that  nearly  all  the  listeners  could  stand  or  sit 
in  the  shade. 

GUESTS. 

Among  the  invited  guests  present  were  Lieut. -Gov.  John 
D.  Long,  of  Hingham ;  Attorney- General  George  Marston, 
of  New  Bedford;  John  B.  D.  Cogswell,  Yarmouth,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Senate;  Hon.  "W".  W.  Crapo,  M.  C.,  New  Bed- 
ford ;  Hon.  Thomas  Russell  and  wife,  Boston ;  John  W. 
Hammond,  Esq.,  City  Solicitor,  Cambridge;  Edward  At- 
kinson, Esq.,  Brookline ;  Geo.  O.  Shattuck,  Esq.,  Matta- 
poisett ;  Hon.  Charles  J.  Holmes,  Fall  River;  John  Eddy, 
Esq.,  Providence,  R.  I.;  Gen.  E.  W.  Pierce,  Freetown: 
Mrs.  Zerviah  Gould  Mitchell  and  her  two  daughters,  Tewel- 

A2 


10  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

ema  and  Wotonekanuske,  North  Abington ;  Henry  Morton 
Dexter,  D.  D.,  New  Bedford,  Editor  of  the  Congregation- 
alist;  Rev.  Wm.  H.  Cobb,  Uxbridge ;  Eev.  I.  C.  Thacher, 
Lakeville ;  Rev.  Thomas  T.  Richmond,  Taunton ;  Mayor 
Wm.  T.  Soule,  New  Bedford;  William  H.  Sherman,  Esq., 
New  Bedford;  Matthew  H.  Gushing,  Esq.,  Middleboro ; 
Noah  C.  Perkins,  Esq.,  Middleboro;  Hon.  Bonum  Nye, 
North  Brookfield  ;  Rev.  Frederick  Upham,  Fairhaven  ;  Geo. 
M.  Barnard,  Esq.,  Mattapoisett. 

EXERCISES  AT  THE  GROVE. 

At  12  o'clock  the  assembly  was  called  to  order  by  the 
Marshal,  Geo.  H.  Purrington,  Jr.  After  an  olio  of  Nation- 
al airs  by  the  band  and  the  singing  of  "Auld  Lang  Syne" 
by  a  selected  choir  of  fifty  voices  in  charge  of  Geo.  Mason 
Delano,  Mr.  Purrington  introduced  Gerard  C.  Tobey,  Esq., 
of  Wareham,  as  President  of  the  day.  The  chaplain,  Rev. 
Wm.  Leonard,  (Congregationalist,)  North  Rochester,  then 
read  the  eighth  chapter  of  Deuteronomy  in  which  the  bless- 
ings of  God  are  promised  those  who  serve  him  and  the  curse 
pronounced  on  those  who  neglect  him  : 

ALL  the  commandments  which  I  command  thee  this  day  shall  ye  ob- 
serve to  do,  that  ye  may  live,  and  multiply,  and  go  in  and  possess 
the  land  which  the  Lord  sware  unto  your  fathers. 

2  And  thou  shalt  remember  all  the  way  which  the  Lord  thy  God  led 
thee  these  forty  years  in  the  wilderness,  to  humble  thee,  and  to  prove 
thee,  to  know  what  was  in  thine  heart,  whether  thou  wouldest  keep  his 
commandments,  or  no. 

3  And  he  humbled  thee,  and  suffered  thee-to  hunger,  and  fed  thee 
with  manna,  which  thou  kncwest  not,  neither  did  thy  fathers  know;  that 
he  might  make  thee  know  that  man  doth  not  live  by  bread  only,  but  by 
every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  doth  man  live* 

4  Thy  raiment  waxed  not  old  upon  thee,  neither  did  thy  foot  swell, 
these  forty  years. 

5  Thou  shalt  also  consider  in  thine  heart,  that,  as  a  man  chasteneth 
his  son,  so  the  Lord  thy  God  chasteneth  thee. 

6  Therefore  thou  shalt  keep  the  commandments  of  the  Lord  thy  God, 
to  walk  in  his  ways,  and  to  fear  him. 

7  'For  the  Lord  thy  God  bringeth  thee  into  a  good  land,  a  land  of 
brooks  of  water,  of  fountains  and  depths  that  spring  out  of  valleys  and 
hills ; 


ROCHESTER^    Bl-CENfEJ}NlAL>  11 

8  A  land  of  wheat,  and  barley,  and  vines,  and  fig  trees,  and  pome- 
granates; a  land  of  oil,  olive,  and  honey*, 

9  A  land  wherein  thou  shalt  eat  bread  without  scarceness,  thou  shalt 
not  lack  any  thing  in  it  $  a  land  whose  stones  are  iron,  and  out  of  whose 
hills  thou  raayest  dig  brass ; 

10  When  thou  hast  eaten  and  art  full,  then  thou  shalt  bless  the  Lord 
thy  God  for  the  good  land  which  he  hath  given  thee. 

11  Beware  that  thou  forget  not  the  Lord  thy  God,  in  not  keeping  his 
commandments,  and  his  judgments,  and  his  statutes,  which  I  command 
thee  this  day; 

12  Lest  when  thou  hast  eaten  and  art  full,  and  hast  built  goodly 
houses,  and  dwelt  therein; 

13  And  when  thy  herds  and  thy  flocks  multiply,  and  thy  silver  and 
thy  gold  is  multiplied,  and  all  that  thou  hast  is  multiplied; 

14  Then  thine  heart  be  lifted  up,  and  thou  forget  the  Lord  thy  God> 
which  brought  thee  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  from  the  house  of 
bondage ; 

15  Who  led  thee  through  that  great  and  terrible  wilderness,  wherein 
Were  fiery  serpents,  and  scorpions,  and  drought,  where  there  was  no 
Water;  who  brought  thee  forth  water  out  of  the  rock  of  flint  >, 

16  Who  fed  thee  in  the  wilderness  with  manna,  which  thy  fathers 
knew  not,  that  he  might  humble  thee,  and  that*he  might  prove  thee.  to 
do  thee  good  at  thy  latter  end ; 

17  And  thou  say  in  thine  heart,   My  power  and  the  might  of  mine 
hand  hath  gotten  me  this  wealth* 

18  But  thou  shalt  remember  the  Lord  thy  God;  for  it  is  he  that  giveth 
thee  power  to  get  wealth,  that  he  may  establish  his  covenant  which  he 
sware  unto  thy  fathers,  as  it  is  this  day. 

19  And  it  shall  be,  if  thou  do  at  all  forget  the  Lord  thy  God,  and 
walk  after  other  gods,  and   serve  them,  and  worship  them,  I  testify 
against  you  this  day  ye  shall  surely  perish. 

20  As  the  nations  which  the  Lord  destroyeth  before  your  face,  so 
shall  ye  perish ;  because  ye  would  not  be  obedient  unto  the  voice  of  the 
Lord  your  God. 


PRAYER   BY   REV.    WILLIAM   LEONARD, 

O  Lord  our  God,  in  Thine  infinite  condescension  and  love 
Thou  hast  made  it  our  duty  and  privilege  to  call  upon  Thee 
at  all  times,  and  to  acknowledge  Thee  in  all  our  ways.  We 
would  therefore  on  this  deeply  interesting  occasion  acknowl- 
edge Thee  as  the  only  living  and  true  God,  as  the  father  of 
the  spirits  of  all  flesh,  as  the  sovereign  ruler  of  the  universe. 

We  praise  Thee,  O  Lord,  for  this  beautiful  day  and  for 
the  vast  multitude  here  assembled  to  celebrate  in  a  befitting 
manner  the  first  settlement  of  this  ancient  domain  by.  our 
illustrious  ancestors,  men  of  whom  the  world  was  most 
worthy^  whose  memories  we  love  to  cherish  because  of  their 


12  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENXIAL* 

Christian  principles,  sterling  character,  solid  sense,  ancf 
noble  deeds.  Great  God,  from  whom  cometh  ever}7  good  and 
perfect  gift,  we  bless  and  praise  Thy  name  for  all  Thy  wond- 
rous dealings  with  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.  We  thank  Thee 
for  directing  their  thoughts  and  guiding  their  steps  to  this 
Western  World.  We  praise  Thy  name  that  Thou  didst  pi- 
lot them  over  the  trackless  sea  in  safety,  didst  in  Thine  own 
peculiar  way  lead  them  to  these  New  England  shores.  And 
thou  didst  never  leave  them,  nor  forsake  them  amid  the 
perils  of  the  wilderness,  but  Thou  didst  defend  them  by  Thy 
right  arm  and  guided  them  with  Thy  counsel.  In  all  their 
afflictions  Thou  wast  afflicted  and  the  angel  of  Thy  pres- 
ence saved  them.  . 

And  now,  O  Thou  God  of  our  fathers,  look  in  mercy 
upon  us  as  their  sons  and  their  daughters  !  O  lift  upon  us 
the  light  of  Thy  countenance  !  Make  us  worthy  of  our 
sires.  Like  them  may  we  have  grace  to  fear  God  and  work 
righteousness.  Make  us  emulous  of  their  virtues.  Help  us 
to  follow  them  so  far  as  they  followed  Christ.  Be  pleased, 
our  Father  in  Heaven,  to  give  us  grace  and  wisdom  to  trav- 
el in  the  footsteps  of  those  men  of  renown.  Father  of 
the  spirits  of  all  flesh,  we  most  meekly  beseech  Thee  to  re- 
member for  good  the  few  relicts  here  to-day  of  those  primal 
lords  of  these  ancient  forests.  O  pour  upon  them,  and  all 
the  aborgiines  of  our  land,  the  riches  of  Thy  grace  and  the 
bounties  of  Thy  providence  !  And  may  this  great  nation 
with  all  the  inhabitants  thereof,  receive  Thy  gracious  bene- 
diction, that  we  may  be  a.  virtuous  and  happy  people  and 
render  unto  Thee  the  glory  due  to  thy  name.  We  ask  all 
in  the  name  and  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour,  to 
whom  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Spirit  be  everlasting 
praises.  Amen. 

The  choir  very  impressively  then  sang  "My  Country  'tis 
of  Thee," 


ROCHESTER'S  SI-CENTENNIAL.,  13 

The  address  of  welcome  was  then  delivered  by  Gerard  C. 
Tobey,  of  Wareham,  the  President  of  the  Day,  and  was  as 
follows  : 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen: — In  fulfilling  the  agreeable  duties 

CD  G 

which  have  been  assigned  to  me  in  the  order  of  exercises  for 
the  day,  I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  rny  sincere  regret 
that  these  offices  have  not  devolved  upon  some  older  and 
more  experienced  person.  As  I  look  upon  this  large  con- 
course of  people  and,  from  this  platform,  see  around  me  so 
many  brave  men  who  have  so  often  surmounted  the  surging 
ocean  in  its  fury,  who  have  commanded  every  kind  of  craft 
from  a  fishing  boat  to  coasters,  whaleships,  merchantmen, 
steamships  —  old  Vikings  of  every  sea  —  I  feel  here  to-day, 
indeed,  as  if  I  were  intruding  upon  somebody's  quarter-deck. 
It  may  be  a  proper  deference  for  me  just  now  to  say  to 
strangers  visiting  us  who  may  be  doubtful  of  the  address  of 
any  resident  hereabout,  call  him  "Captain,"  and  you  will 
not  be  far  from  right;  for  if  you  do  not  find  him  already  a 
master  mariner,  the  chances  are  that  he  will  be  very  soon. 
Some  members  of  your  committees  are  ship-owners  too,  who 
whenever  apprehensive  of  inexperience  in  the  captain  of  any 
craft  of  theirs  have  a  way  of  supplying  him  very  quietly, 
but  very  surely,  with  the  best  chief  mate  that  can  be  ob- 
tained. I  am  inclined  to  suspect  they  have  exercised  the 
same  prudence  in  the  orders  for  this  day,  as  I  observe  in 
the  appointment  of  Vice  President  the  name  of  a  highly 
respected  citizen  of  a  part  of  the  original  Sippican  grant, 
who  bears  his  years  so  lightly  that  age  is  no  impediment  to 
his  effort,  whose  ancestors  were  among  the  earljr  colonists, 
whose  personal  history  is  a  part  of  the  history  of  ship-building 
in  Massachusetts,  and  who,  I  submit  under  favor,  according 
to  all  proprieties  should  be  induced  to  accept,  at  once,  the 
commission  which  I  hold  with  diffidence  and  would  resign 
lo  him  with  alacrity,. 


14  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

But,  my  friends,  do  you  know  that  your  committee  are  very 
arbitrary  fellows?  Why,  last  Saturday,  when  somebody 
inquired  at  their  meeting  whether  provision  had  been  made 
for  this  celebration  in  case  the  appointed  day  proved  to  be 
stormy,  what  think  you  was  their^conduct?  Did  they  pro- 
ceed to  provide  for  tents  or  shelter  or  a  postponement?  Oh, 
no  !  they  just  proceeded  to  vote,  unanimously,  that  there 
should  be  no  storm  allowed  here  at  all  during  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  Rochester  Bi-Centenuial.  And  you  yourselves 
are  witnesses,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  how  the  lowering 
clouds  dismally  gathered  in  this  vicinity  last  evening,  how 
sullenly  they  loitered  around  here  this  morning,  dropped  a 
few  rebellious  tears  in  Mattapoisett,  and  then  dispersed  dis- 
consolately in  obedience  to  the  edict  of  the  arrogant  com- 
mittee ;  and  now  we  are  rejoicing  in  this  genial  sunshine 
while  etherial  mildness  rules  the  skies.  Toward  a  commit- 
tee so  puissant  as  this,  the  only  policy  must  be  one  of  sub- 
mission ;  and  therefore  it  is  I  rise  to  salute  you  and  to  bid 
you  welcome  to  our  good  cheer. 

I  welcome  you  to  the  festivities  and  entertainments  which 
have  been  prepared  by  your  indefatigable  and  public  spir- 
ited committees.  I  welcome  you  to  participation  in  these 
honors  to  the  dear  memory  of  our  forefathers.  I  welcome 
you  to  the  sea-blown  breezes,  the  pure  air  and  the  inviting 
shade  of  this  fine  old  grove  in  ancient  Rochester;  and  to  in- 
tellectual delights  in  listening  to  words  of  wisdom  and  of 
eloquence  that  will  fall  from  the  lips  of  others  who  will 
address  you  during  this  festal  day. 

The  average  American,  absorbed  in  strife  for  the  posses- 
sion of  the  present  good,  or  in  tireless  pursuit  of  a  better 
future,  seldom  has  opportunity  for  a  retrospect.  Like  the 
runner  figured  by  St.  Paul,  "forgetting  those  things  which 
are  behind  and  reaching  forth  to  those  things  which  are  be- 
fore he  presses  toward  the  mark  for  the  prize. "  The  real- 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  15 

ities  and  the  activities  of  American  life  permit  no  backward 
views,  nulla  vestigia  retrorsum.  Brilliantly  progressive  is 
America. 

And,  yet,  so  truly  and  with  such  constanc}r  does  history 
repeat  itself,  there  are  no  safe  beacons  for  the  future  with- 
out light  from  the  experience  of  the  past.  To  what  purpose, 
then,  can  an  American,  proud  of  his  nationality,  proud 
of  the  achievements  of  his  countrymen,  hopeful,  sanguine, 
confident  of  the  magnificent  future  of  his  country,  better 
devote  a  day,  in  this  heated  month  of  summer  vacation,  than 
to  tranquil  contemplation  of  the  ways  and  means  whereby 
out  of  a  feeble  strip  of  Christianity  struggling  for  existence 
upon  a  hostile  coast,  was  evolved,  in  two  centuries,  this 
great  republic  of  ours,  the  hope  of  all  nations — and  to  the 
contemplation  of  the  people,  the  statesmen,  the  heroes,  the 
religion,  the  polity,  laws,  ethics,  customs,  and  every  day 
life  of  that  sturdy  civilization,  which,  in  the  same  short 
period  of  time,  subdued  a  continent  of  barbarism,  re- 
vealed the  majestic  resources  of  our  country  and  advanced 
our  free  republic  abreast  of  those  grand  old  nations  of 
Europe  from  whom  it  is  our  privilege  to  trace  an  hon- 
orable descent. 

And  thus  it  happens  to-day,  irrespective    of  nationality 
and  of  descent — 

"For  Saxon,  or  Dane,  or  Norman,  we, 
Teuton  or  Celt,  whatever  we  be," — 

irrespective  of  political  preferences  or  denominational  differ- 
ences, we  come  as  Americans,  heart  unto  heart,  to  this  his- 
toric place  near  the  picturesque  shores  of  our  beautiful  bay — 
this  bay  so  generous,  so  bounteous,  in  gifts  alike  for  suste- 
nance and  for  enjoyment  —  this  bay  so  charming  in  outlines 
and  colors — the  waters  whereof  were  to  our  forefathers  a 
highway  of  traffic  between  New  Plymouth  and  New  Amster- 
dam, and  will  become,  upon  the  completion  of  the  project- 


16  •    ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

ed  canal,  the  highway  of  a  great  commerce  from  the  shores 
at  the  north  of  us  to  the  whole  Atlantic  coast  southward  ; — 
here,  we  convene,  just  where  the  ebbing  memories  of  the 
toilsome  past  commingle  with  the  flooding  promises  of  the 
future,  to  commemorate  the  deeds  and  the  virtues  of  those 
hardy,  zealous,  godly  men,  who  braved  the  wintry  perils  of 
a  storm-beaten  and  unexplored  ocean,  proclaimed  a  new 
era  in  civil  government,  and  founded  in  a  savage  wilderness 
a  Christian  Commonwealth  established  upon  corner  stones 
of  religion,  education,  liberty  and  law. 

And  so,  here,  to-day,  we  meet  old  Rochester  proper,  the 
eldest  of  us  all,  robust  and  hearty  from  his  lur^tielcls,  farms 
and  woodlands;  and  here  too,  comes  Wareham,  brawny  and 
swart  from  his  iron  mills  and  busy  wharves.  Hither  also 
cometh  Marion,  a  bright  nymph  of  the  sea,  the  lass  who 
always  loved  a  sailor,  God  bless  her,  coy  and  demure,  and 
just  as  good  as  she  is  pretty.  With  her  too,  comes  another 
sea-born  beauty,  our  sister  Mattapoisett,  fair  enchantress  of 
repose,  now  the  petted  darling  of  an  alien  wealth,  well 
worthy  of  the  full  measure  of  admiration  bestowed  upon  her. 
And,  thus,  the  whole  family  having  gathered  at  the  trysting 
tree  in  this  leafy  rendezvous,  nothing  more  satisfactory  to 
all,  I  am  sure,  can  be  offered  by  me  than  the  introduction 
of  a  lineal  descendant  from  one  of  the  pious  ministers  of  the 
Rochester  Plantation,  who  will  recite  to  us  much  from  our 
local  history  that  has  already  been  forgotten,  inform  us  of 
much  in  our  annals  that  we  have  never  known,  and  stimu- 
late us  to  action  and  aspirations  worthy  of  the  memory  of 
an  honored  ancestry.  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  have  now 
the  pleasure  of  introducing  to  you  the  Rev.  Noble  Warren 
Everett,  of  Wareham,  the  historian  of  the  day  we  cele- 
brate. 


ROCHESTER'S    BI-CENTENNIAL.  17 

ORATION. 

BY    THE    REV.    N.    W.    EVERETT. 

• 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  We  are  as- 
sembled here  to-day,  not  far  from  the  Rock  of  Plymouth, 
to  celebrate  the  anniversary  of  an  event  that  is  to  us  one  of 
special  interest.  And  we  claim  to  be  scions  of  the  old  Pil- 
grim stock.  Before  ine  are  scores  through  whose  veins 
Pilgrim  blood  is  coursing. 

In  the  list  of  passengers  that  came  over  in  the  Mayflower 
in  1620,  and  in  the  Fortune  in  1621,  we  find  the  familial- 
names  of  Aldeu,  Dotey,  Fuller,  Bassite,  now  spelt  Bassett, 
Bompasse,  now  spelt  Bumpus  or  Bump,  Briggs,  Cushman 
and  De  La  N'oye  —  Delano. 

And  while  I  have  been  searching  the  records  of  the  past 
to  prepare  for  this  occasion,  ever  and  anon,  the  inimitable 
description  of  the  voyage  of  the  Mayflower,  as  given  by  my 
illustrious  namesake*  has  come  to  mind. 

"Methinks  I  see  it  now,  that  one  solitary  adventurous 
vessel,  the  Mayflower  of  a  forlorn  hope,  freighted  with  the 
prospects  of  a  future  state,  and  bound  across  the  unknown 
sea.  I  behold  it  pursuing  with  a  thousand  misgivings,  the 
uncertain,  the  tedious  voyage.  Suns  rise  and  set  and  weeks 
and  months  pass,  and  winter  surprises  them  on  the  deep 
and  brings  them  not  the  sight  of  the  wished  for  shore. 

I  see  them  now  scantily  supplied  with  provisions,  crowd- 
ed almost  to  suffocation  in  their  ill  stored  prison,  delayed 
by  calms,  pursuing  a  circuitous  route; — and  now  driven  in 
fury  before  the  raging  tempest,  and  the  high  and  giddy 
waves.  The  awful  voice  of  the  storm  howls  through  the 
rigging.  The  laboring  masts  seem  straining  from  their 
base;  the  dismal  sound  of  the  pumps  is  heard; — the  ship 

*Hon.  Edward  Everett. 


18  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

leaps  as  it  were,  imidly  from  billow  to  billow;  —  the  ocean 
breaks  and  settles  with  engulfing  floods  over  the  floating 
decks,  and  breaks  with  deadening,  shivering  weight,  against 
the  staggered  vessel. 

"I  see  them  escaped  from  these  perils,  pursuing  their 
all  but  desperate  undertaking,  and  landed  at  last,  after 
a  five  months'  passage,  on  the  ice-clad  rocks  of  Ply- 
month." 

In  the  cabin  of  that  vessel,  they  settled  a  general  form  of 
government,  upon  the  principles  of  a  pure  Democracy.  In 
1636  they  published  a  declaration  of  rights,  and  established 
a  body  of  laws. 

The  first  fundamental  article  was  in  these  words  :  "That 
no  act,  imposition,  law  or  ordinance  be  made  or  imposed 
upon  us,  at  present  or  to  come,  but  such  as  have  been  or 
shall  be  enacted  by  the  consent  of  the  body  of  freemen,  or 
associates  of  their  representatives  legally  assembled." 

Here  we  find  advanced  the  whole  principle  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, and  not  only  that,  we  find  the  whole  doctrine  of  our 
Republican  institutions. 

Said  one  of  Rochester's  sons*  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  the  United  States,  on  the  l(Jth  of  May,  1830  :  "Sir, 
our  ancestors  migrated  hither  to  build  a  country;  as  well 
for  themselves  as  for  their  descendants.  When  they  had 
landed  here,  they  looked  out  upon  the  earth,  on  which  they 
had  placed  their  feet,  and  back  again  on  the  bosom  of  the 
ocean,  which  had  borne  them  to  these  shores ;  and  thence 
up  to  the  clear  blue  heaven  over  their  heads,  and  lifting 
their  hands  in  supplication  toward  the  God  above,  they  re- 
solved under  his  direction,  to  depend  on  those  hands  and 
those  elements  for  subsistence  ;  for  their  food,  their  clothing, 
and  habitation.  Independence  was  their  first  inspiration. 
And  from  that  hour  to  this,  all  true  Americans,  who  have 
*Hon.  Tristam  Burgess. 


ROCHESTER'S  .BI-CENTENNIAL.  19 

understood  and  pursued  the  great  interests  of  this  country 
have  lived  and  labored  for  this  independence." 

And  we  know  full  well,   Mr.  President,  their  hatred  of 
oppression.     They  hated  it  with  a  hatred  beyond  expres- 
sion.    And  whenever  they  found  it,  they  smote  it  as  did 
St.  Artigele's  iron  man  Talus,  with  his  flail,  without  conde- 
scending to  administer  an  anesthetic. 

These  were  the  men  fore-ordained  to  control  the  destinies 
of  this  new  world  ;  and  their  enterprise  and  intelligence  has 
spread  all  over  this  land. 

Wherever  you  find  the  church  and  schoolhouse  ;  the  col- 
lege and  seminary;  wherever  you  find  the  railroad  and  tele- 
graph ;  wherever  you  find  any  portion  of  this  county  blos- 
soming like  Eden ;  it  can  almost  invariably  be  traced  to 
Pilgrim  influence. 

And  this  influence  shall  widen  and  deepen  until  the  end 
of  time. 

Some  have  sneered,  and  laughed  at  their  austere  manners 
and  psalm  singing;  but  those  who  have  encountered  them 
or  their  descendants  in  the  hall  of  debate  or  on  the  field  of 
battle  have  had  little  reason  for  sneers  or  laughter.  They 
were  men  and  had  their  faults.  But  it  is  hardly  our  duty 
to  search  for  them  in  the  musty  files  of  the  past. 

Sir,  we  glory  in  our  birth-place  and  lineage  ! 

And  as  Sargeant  S.  Prentiss  once  said  to  the  men  of  the 
South  ;  so  we  say  here  to-day  :  "Who  would  not  rather  be 
of  the  Pilgrim  stock,  than  claim  descent  from  the  proudest 
Norman  that  ever  planted  his  robber  feet  in  the  halls  of  the 
Saxon  or  the  noblest  paladin  that  quafled  wine  at  the  table 
of  Charlemagne  ?" 

FIRST     SETTLEMENT. 

How  the  white  men  first  became  possessed  of  the  Sippi- 
can  or  Rochester  territory,  whether  by  purchase  or  conquest 


20  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENXIAL. 

I  am  unable  to  determine  ;  and  no  gleaner  who  has  preceded 
me  has  been  able  satisfactorily  to  answer  this  question.  A 
large  part  of  it,  but  not  the  whole,  as  stated  by  some,  was 
granted  to  Thomas  Besbeck  and  others  January  22d,  1638-9. 
In  1647,  "Liberty  is  granted  unto  the  townsmen  of  Ply- 
mouth, to  make  use  of  the  land  at  Sippican  for  herding  and 
keeping  of  cattle  and  wintering  of  them  there  as  they  shall 
see  cause." 

In  1651,  "For  the  continual  support  of  the  township  of 
Plymouth,  for  the  place  and  seat  of  government,  to  prevent 
the  dispersing  of  the  inhabitants  thereof,  it  is  ordered  that 
Sippican  be  granted  to  the  town  of  Plymouth  to  be  a  gen- 
eral help  to  the  inhabitants  thereof,  for  the  keeping  of  their 
cattle,  and  to  remain  for  the  common  use  and  good  of  the 
said  township." 

In  1666,  King  Philip,  sachem  of  Pokanoket,  youngest 
son  of  Massasoit,  gave  power  "to  Watuchpoo  and  Sampson, 
two  Indian  chiefs,  and  their  brethren  to  hold  and  make  sale 
of  these  lands  to  whom  they  pleased." 

And  on  the  24th  of  December,  1668,  Philip  informed  the 
Honorable  Court  at  Plymouth,  that  they  were  for  sale. 

In  Plymouth  court  orders  dated  June  3d,  1679,  we  find 
the  following  :  "In  answer  unto  the  proposition  of  several 
that  would  purchase  lands  at  Sippican  and  places  adjacent, 
the  Court  are  glad  to  take  notice  of  what  they  propound  and 
offer  themselves  to  oblige  in  order  to  a  comfortable  settle- 
ment of  a  Plantation  there,  and  shall  be  ready  to  accommo- 
date them  as  far  as  they  can,  on  reasonable  and  easy  terms, 
and  give  them  all  due  encouragement,  if  they  can  procure 
some  more  substantial  men,  that  are  prudent  persons,  and 
of  considerable  estate,  that  will  make  a  speedy  settlement 
of  themselves  and  families  with  them,  and  we  desire  and 
expect  to  hear  further  from  them  at  the  next  meeting  of  this 
Court  by  adjournment  in  July  next,  at  which  time,  we  may, 


ROCHESTER'S   BI-CENTENNIAL,  21 

if  satisfied  in  the  premises,  bargain  with  them  for  the  lands 
they  desire,  or  put  it  in  a  way  to  be  done."  It  seems  that 
"some  more  substantial  men,  who  were  prudent  persons," 
were  procured,  for  on  the  22d  of  July,  1679,  the  purchase* 
was  made  and  the  deed  was  given.  On  the  same  day,  the 
purchasers  met,  organized  and  transacted  considerable  busi- 
ness, at  the  house  of  Mr.  Joseph  Bradford  in  Plymouth. 

Joseph  Lothrop.  William  Dexter,  Benjamin  Foster. 

Barnabas  Lothrop,  Samuel  Brings,  Benjamin  Bartlett, 

Kanelm  Winslow,  Seth  Pope,  Elizabeth  Ellis. 

William  Clark.  Samuel  White,  Joseph  Dunham, 

William  Bradford.  Joseph  Dotey.  .Thomas  Hinckley. 

Ralph  Powell,  Aaion  Barlow,  Thomas  Clarke, 

Joseph  Bartlett,  Moses  Barlow.  John  Cotton. 

John  Burge,  John  Perry,  John  Bradford. 

Joseph  Burgp.  Samuel  Hammond,          William  Peabody. 

George  Morton.  Samuel  Davis, 

The  names  of  Samuel  Arnold,  William  Connett  and  the 
Ministry  share  were  added  to  the  list  subsequent  to  1079. 

The  territory  they  purchased  embraced  the  whole  of 
Rochester,  Mattapoisett,  Marion,  and  a  much  larger  part  of 
Wareham  than  has  generally  been  supposed,  The  deed 
shows  that  the  easterly  line  was  the  westerly  jumping 
brook,  now  known  as  the  Silvanus  Besse  brook,  the  Aga- 
wam  and  Wankinco  rivers.  But  they  must  have  soon  pur- 
chased additional  land,  for  hundreds  of  acres  were  assigned 
to  Thomas  Clark  and  others  on  the  east  side  of  the  Wan- 
kinco river. 

Soon  after  the  purchase  was  made,  an  Indian  named 
Charles,  alias  Paumprnutt  of  Ashimuitt,  claimed  a  portion  of 
the  purchased  possesssions,  but  on  the  payment  of  six 
pounds,  New  England  money,  renounced  all  title. 

Nov.  19,  1769,  Lieut.  Joseph  Lothrop,  agent  of  the  com- 
pany, paid  Peter  Suscacow,  five  shillings  to  satisfy  his  claim. 

In  1683,  William  Connett,  an  Indian,  claimed  the  whole 
land  they  had  purchased.  He  proved  a  bitter  and  stubborn 


22  ROCHESTER'S 

contestant,    but    finally    entered    into    an    agreement    with 
Thomas  Hinckley  and  Joseph  Lothrop  that  was  satisfactory 
to  both  parties. 
*  After  this,  the  whites  remained  in  undisputed  possession. 

It  is  probable  the  first  settlers  took  up  their  residence 
here  in  1680. 

Their  names  as  given  by  Barber,  are  as  follows  J 
Rev.  Samuel  Arnold.      John  Win«r,  John  Haskoll. 

John  Hammond,  Joseph  Burgess,  Samuel  White. 

Samuel  Hammond,          Job  Winslow,  ,l<i-cph  Dotoy, 

Jacob  Bumpus,  Moses  Barlow.  •  Spra<*ne. 

Abraham  Holim  -.  A#ron  Barlow. 

Not  far  from  where  we  are  assembled,  they  erected  their 
first  church,  and  tradition  says  that  until  their  antique  edi- 
fice was  completed  they  worshipped  upon  and  around  a  huge 
rock,  since  known  as  "Minister's  Rock." 

Rochester  was  incorporated  as  a  town,  June  4,  1686. 

The  first  ordained  minister  was  Rev.  Timothy  Ruggles, 
who  commenced  his  labors  here  in  1709. 

'.'Iu  1773,  the  settlers  in  Mattapoisett  were  set  oft*  as  a 
distinct  parish  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Rev.  Ivory  Hovey. 
He  was  born  in  Topsfield,  Mass.,  1714.  Graduated  at 
Harvard  College,  in  1735.  Installed  Pastor  of  the  Second 
Church  of  Rochester,  (Mattapoisett)  October  29th,  1740, 
Resigned  in  1765.  Installed  at  Plymouth,  Mass.,  Second 
Church,  April,  1770.  Died  in  office,  November  4th,  1803, 
aged  90.  While  in  Mattapoisett,  he  devoted  considerable 
time  to  the  study  of  medicine,  and  became  a  respectable  and 
useful  physician.  His  life  was  not  only  filled  up  with  duty 
and  usefulness,  but  was  marked  by  meekness,  humility  and 
Christian  piety.  He  kept  a  journal  through  the  65  years 
of  his  ministry,  which  he  left  at  his  decease,  spread  over 
7000  pages  of  short  haaid.  He  published  his  valedictory 
sermon  at  Mattapoisett,  and  one  on  the  subject  of  mortality. 
His  immediate  successor,  in  1772,  was  Rev.  Lemuel  Le- 


ROCHESTER'S 

Baronv     These  two  men  continued  in  the  ministry  for  one 
hundred  years." 

"Rev.  Thomas  Bobbins,  D.  D.,  the  successor  of  Mr.-Le-* 
Baron,  possessed  in  his  day  the  most  valuable  private 
library  in  the  State.  It  consisted  of  over  3000  volumes* 
and  4000  pamphlets,  some  of  them  rare,  He  also  had  an 
extensive  collection  of  coins  and  manuscripts." 

"Rev.  Oliver  Cobb,  D.  D.,  fourth  pastor  of  the  First 
Church  in  Rochester,  was  born  in  Kingston,  Mass.,  March 
18th,  1770,  in  a  house  still  owned  and  occupied  by  his 
father's  descendants.  Near  by  stands  the  ancient  residence 
of  his  grandfather,  who  lived  in  three  centuries,  1694- 
1801.  Dr.  Cobb  was  graduated  at  Brown  University,  or- 
dained and  installed  at  Rochester  in  Jane,  177!',  and  con- 
tinued in  this  pastorate  just  50  years,  till  his  death  in  1849, 
During  his  ministry,  222  were  added  to  the  church.  He 
was  especially  esteemed  as  a  sermonizer,  and  some  of  his 
characteristic  discourses  are  well  remembered  still.  He 
published  two  sermons,  preached  at  Sandwich  during  the 
famous  Unitarian  division.  One  of  these  was  delivered  at 
the  installation  of  Rev.  Johnathan  Burr ;  the  charge  to  the 
pastor,  by  Rev.  Noble  Everett  of  Wareham,  is  published 
in  the  same  pamphlet.  Dr.  Cobb  left  a  numerous  family  5 
his  eldest  son,  Nathaniel,  was  the  eccentric  evangelist,  who 
died  in  1878;  the  second  sou,  Leander,  succeeded  him  in 
the  ministry  of  this  ancient  church,  and  died  in  1872." 

Wareham  was  incorporated  as  a  town  July  6,  1739.  The 
first  ordained  minister  svas  Rev.  Rowland  Thatcher.  He 
was  born  in  Barnstable,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  in  1733,  or- 
dained Dec.  26,  1739,  and  died  Feb.  18,  1775.  His  name 
is  clerical  in  Massachusetts.  Mather  is  hardly  more  so. 
He  died  in  office,  at  a  good  age,  having  served  the  church 
in  Wareham  more  than  thirty -five  years,  and  left  behind 
him  the  fragrance  of  his  good  name,  and  the  fruits  of  his 
faithful  labors. 


24  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENXIAL. 

Josiah  Cotton,  the  second  pastor,  bore  another  clerical 
name  of  just  celebrity.  He  was  a  graduate  ot  Yale,  and 
was  ordained  Nov.  1,  1775.  He  was  a  young  man  of  am- 
ple talent  and  popular  address,  but  less  grave  in  manners 
and  less  zealous  in  spirit,  than  his  predecessor.  Finding 
that  his  ministry  was  not  satisfactory,  he  resigned  his  office 
May  31,  1779,  and  subsequently  the  profession. 

Noble  Everett,  the  third  pastor,  was  born  in  Woodbury, 
Conn.,  and  a  graduate  of  Yale  in  1772.  He  was  a  chaplain 
in  the  Revolutionary  army,  and  was  present  at  the  battle  of 
White  Plains.  He  was  ordained  in  Warcham,  October  15, 
1782,  and  died  in  office,  Dec.  30,  1819. 

He  read  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  with  familiarity,  and  was 
justly  esteemed  sound  in  doctrine,  prudent  in  discipline,  and 
upright  in  conduct.  He  was  of  the  school  of  the  famous 
Bellamy,  earnest  and  substantial,  rather  than  accurate  or 
conciliating.  He  disclaimed  the  use  of  the  pen,  and  de- 
pended much  on  the  impulse  of  the  hour ;  yet  he  was 
often  impressive,  both  in  grave  preaching  and  in  earnest 
prayer. 

Under  his  instructions,  Ebenezer  Burgess,  D.  D.,  John 
Mackie,  M.  D.,  an  eminent  physician  of  Providence,  R.  I.. 
Timothy  G.  Coffin,  Esq.,  so  long  a  shining  light  at  the 
Bristol  Bar,  and  others  were  fitted  for  college. 

On  his  tombstone  is  the  following  inscription:  "Emi* 
neut  for  piety,  and  a  faithful  preacher  of  the  Gospel." 

Marion  was  incorporated  May  14,  1852. 

Mattapoisett  was  incorporated  May  20,  1857. 

OCCUPATIONS    OF   OUR   PEOPLE    FROM    THE  FIRST  SETTLEMENT 
TO   THE    PRESENT   TIME. 

And  now  let  us  dwell  for  a  few  moments  on  the  pursuits 
of  our  people. 

For  a  long  period  after  the  first  settlement,  the  principal 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  25 

'occupation  of  the  inhabitants  was  agriculture.  The  pro- 
ducts of  the  soil,  together  with  game  from  the  woods  and 
fish  from  the  adjacent  waters,  gave  them  an  ample  subsist- 
ence. 

During  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  when  salt  was  in  great 
demand,  our  citizens  embarked  largely  in  manufacturing 
this  article  by  boiling  sea  wati-r.  About  the  year  1806,  the 
making  of  salt  by  evaporation  was  commenced  and  con- 
tinued some  forty  years. 

In  former  years,  ship-building  has  been  carried  on  to  a 
considerable  extent.  In  Wareham  the  ships  Pocahontas, 
Jubilee,  Ware  ham,  Kutusoff,  George  Washington,  Republic 
and  others  were  built,  Some  of  them  at  the  time  attracted 
considerable  attention  by  their  size ;  but  now,  they  would 
be  but  as  "long-boats"  compared  with  the  Great  Eastern. 

In  Mattapoisett,  hundreds  of  ships  have  been  built  for 
the  whaling  and  merchant  service,  and  their  prows  have 
Vexed  the  waters  of  every  sea. 

In  1809,  Rev.  Noble  Everett  erected  a  fulling  mill  at 
Wareharn  Centre,  Avhich  was  operated  by  him  and  his  sons 
for  many  years. 

The  first  cotton  factory  here  was  built  in  1812.  This  and 
the  fulling  mill  occupied  the  present  site  of  Parker  mills. 

In  1816,  Curtis  Tobey,  Esq.,  erected  a  cotton  factory  on 
the  Weweantit  river,  and  in  1823  Benjamin  Lincoln  built 
another  on  the  same  stream. 

In  1824,  Pardon  Taber  built  a  paper  mill  on  the  Wewe- 
antit ;  and  another  paper  establishment  was  erected  near  the 
Tremont  depot,  by  Wheelwright  &  Co.,  about  the  year 
1864. 

In  1825,  the  manufacture  of  hollow  ware  gave  employ- 
ment to  hundreds  of  citizens,  and  the  business  was  carried 
on  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  for  many  years  prior  and  sub- 
sequent to  that  date. 


26  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENSIAL. 

Our  leading  industry,  the  manufacture  of  cut  nails,  was 
begun  in  Wareham  in  the  year  1822,  by  I.  and  J.  Pratt  & 
Co.  Our  nails  have  found  a  market  in  every  part  of  the 
habitable  globe.  I  have  myself  purchased  them  in  the 
stores  of  Pennsylvania,  on  the  slopes  of  the  Pacific,  and  in 
the  mountains  of  Sierra  Nevada. 

It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  in  the  future  we  shall  be 
able  to  compete  with  the  factories  of  the  Western  and  Mid- 
dle States,  where  iron  and  coal  is  near  at  hand. 

At  one  time,  scores  of  vessels  were  employed  in  the  whale 
fishery  from  the  ports  of  Mattapoisett,  Wareham  and  Mar- 
ion, and  some  of  them  were  remarkably  successful. 

Large  numbers  of  our  sons  have  "followed  the  si-a." 
We  have  furnished  hundreds  of  captains  for  steamships, 
whaling  and  merchant  ships;  and  some 'of  them  have  risen 
to  eminence  in  their  profession  and  have  been  known  exten- 
sively in  the  Old  World  as  well  as  the  New. 

High  on  the  roll  of  popular  commanders  for  a  long  series 
of  years  stood  the  name  of  James  C.  Luce,  of  Marion, 
But  when  the  ill-fated  Arctic  went  down,  he  closed  his  ca- 
reer on  the  ocean.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century  he  has  re- 
sided on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson.  We  had  hoped  to  have 
seen  and  welcomed  him  here  on  this  occasion  ;  but  alas  I 
only  a  few  days  ago  he  sailed  on  that  returnless  voyage, 
where  lights  and  shores  eternal  greet  the  vision. 

PATRIOTISM    OF   THE    INHABITANTS. 

Thirdly,  as  some  preachers  would  say,  let  us  notice  the 
patriotism  of  the  people.  I  affirm  that  the  sons  of  this  old 
Sippican  tract  have  been  noted  for  their  patriotism  ;  and  in 
all  the  great  wars  that  have  shaken  this  continent,  they  have 
taken  an  active  part. 

FRENCH    WAR. 

In  the  French  war  of  1757-8,  nine  citizens  of  Wareham, 


ROCHESTER'S  EX-CENTENNIAL.  27 

John  Bates,  Barnabas  Bates,  Jabez  Besse.  Henry  Saunders, 
Oliver  Norris,  Joshua  Besse,  'Ebenezer  Chubbuck,  Joseph 
Norris  and  Samuel  Besse,  went  to  Cape  Breton  and  assisted 
in  taking  that  place,  some  in  the  land  forces  and  some  in 
the  navy,  and  Samuel  Besse  lost  his  life  in  the  expedition. 
About  the  same  time,  Nathaniel  Besse,  Gershom  Morse, 
Newb,ury  Morse,  Elnathan  Sampson,  and  Nathaniel  Chub- 
buck  went  into  the  Northern  army  and  were  employed  in 
taking  Canada. 

Also,  there  were  three  Indians  who  resided  in  this  town 
named  Jo  Joseph,  Sol  Joseph  and  Jabez  Wickett,  who  went 
and  fought  against  the  hostile  Indians  on  the  Canadian  fron- 
tier. The  Nathaniel  Chubbuck  already  mentioned  was  in 
the  English  army  at  the  time  it  was  defeated  near  the  city 
of  Carthageua  in  South  America,  in  1741  ;  and  also  at  the 
taking  of  Havana  in  Cuba,  in  1763. 

REVOLUTIONARY    WAR. 

We  find  that  the  town  of  Rochester  took  action  in  refer- 
ence to  the  approaching  struggle  at  an  early  day. 

On  December  28,  1772,  after  reading  the  Letter  of  Cor- 
respondence from  Boston,  chose  Deacon  Seth  Dexter,  Sam- 
uel Briggs,  Jr.,  Ebenezer  White,  Nathaniel  Hammond, 
David  Wing,  Noah  Sprague  and  Thomas  West,  to  consider 
the  matter  and  report  at  the  adjourned  meeting. 

January  11,  1773,  they  reported  the  following  resolves, 
which  were  adopted  by  the  town  : 

Resolved,  that  we  are  entitled  to  all  the  Rights  of  natural 
born  subjects  of  Great  Britain  ;  and  have  not  forfeited  said 
Rights. 

That  the  acts  of  Parliament  raising  a  revenue  in  America, 
with  the  extended  powers  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners 
and  Court  of  Admiralty ;  and  the  stationing  a  part  of  the 
navy  and  troops  here,  are  in  variance  of  our  Rights,  estab- 
lished by  Charter. 


28  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

That  the  Governor's  salary  being  made  independent  of 
the  General  Court  is  a  dangerous  measure. 

That  the  establishment  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court  is  a  most  alarming  innovation,  and  if  these  proceed- 
ings are  submitted  to,  our  General  Court  may  soon  be  con- 
sidered a  riotous  body. 

That  we  have  a  right  to  petition  for  a  redress  of  these 
grievances,  and  if  such  petition  is  treated  with  neglect  or 
contempt,  it  is  a  yoke  which  our  fathers,  or  we,  are  not  able 
to  bear.  And  we  do  instruct  our  Representative  in  the 
General  Court,  not  to  act  inconsistent  with  these  resolutions, 
as  that  will  be  very  displeasing  to  his  constituents. 

And  that  he  in  conjunction  with  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives pursue  every  legal  measure  for  our  political  salva- 
tion. 

That  we  pay  our  grateful  acknowledgments  to  the  town 
of  Boston,  for  circulating  through  the  Province  a  plan  which 
we  hope  will  be  productive  of  happy  effects. 

The  town  further  voted,  that  if  our  Representative  or  any 
other  person  in  this  town,  either  has  or  shall  basely  desert 
the  cause  of  Liberty,  for  the  sake  of  being  promoted  to  a 
post  of  honor  or  profit,  or  for  any  other  mean  view  to  self- 
interest,  shall  be  looked  upon  as  an  enemy  to  his  country 
and  be  treated  with  that  neglect  and  contempt  that  he  justly 
deserves. 

June  30,  1774,  voted  to  sign  a  covenant  to  break  off  trade 
with  Great  Britain,  until  the  Boston  Port  bill  is  repealed, 
and  we  restored  to  our  constitutional  rights. 

Sept.  29,  1774,  instructed  our  Representative  not  to  act 
in  conformity  with  the  act  of  Parliament  altering  the  Char- 
er,  &c.  ;  and  to  adhere  to  the  provisions  of  the  charter  of 
William  and  Mary,  and  if  dissolved,  to  form  into  a  pro- 
vincial Congress. 

Chose  Charles  Nye  to  examine  the  town  stock.     Voted  to 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  29 

purchase  forty  fire-arms,  and  to  purchase  powder  so  that 
the  stock  be  four  hundred  pounds,  and  lead  in  propor- 
tion. 

Chose  a  committee  to  call  the  companies  together,  for  the 
choice  of  officers. 

June  7,  1775,  accepted  of  the  Association  recommended 
by  Congress  and  chose  Nathaniel  Hammond,  John  Doty  and 
David  Wing,  a  committee  to  see  it  carried  into  effect. 

Voted,  that  every  "minute  man,"  amounting  to  one  hun- 
dred, that  shall  attend  three  half  days  in  each  week,  as 
shall  be  appointed  by  their  captain,  and  twice  a  month  in  a 
body,  to  the  first  of  April,  and  shall  be  ready  to  march  if 
needed,  and  'equip  themselves,  shall  have  one  shilling  a 
week. 

March,  1775,  chose  Nathaniel  Briggs,  Joseph  Parker  and 
David  Wing,  to  see  that  the  "Minute  Men"  equip  them- 
selves. 

Rochester  company  of  "Minute  Men"  that  responded  to 
the  first  call,  April  19th,  1775  : 

Commissioned  officers — Edward  Hammond,  captain  ;  Jo- 
siah  Burgess,  lieutenant ;  Timothy  Ruggles,  ensign.  Non- 
commissioned officers — Sergeants,  William  Nye,  Jonathan 
King,  Stafford  Hammond,  Sylvester  Bates.  Corporals — 
Church  Mendall,  Elisha  Briggs,  David  Snow,  William 
Crapo.  Private  soldiers — Ichabod  Nye,  William  Randall, 

Nathan  Savory, Bassett,  Richard  Warren,  Nathaniel 

Ryder,  George  Hammond,  Joseph  Clark,  Shubael  Ham- 
mond, Rufus  Bassett,  Jonathan  Clark,  Lemuel  Caswell, 
Nathan  Nye,  Seth  Mendall,  Moses  Bates,  Consider  King, 
Hathaway  Randall,  Seth  Hathaway,  Elijah  Caswell,  Jr., 
Nathan  Perry,  Isaac  Washburn,  Japhet  Washburn,  Caleb 
Combs,  Joseph  Hammond,  Benjamin  Haskins,  John  Briggs, 
Elijah  Bates,  David  Bates,  Daniel  Mendall,  Samuel  Snow, 
Nathan  Sears,  Nathaniel  King,  Weston  Clarke,  Robert 


30  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

Rider,  Silas  Bussett,  Ebenezer  Foster,  George  Clarke, 
William  Hopper. 

Rochester  second  foot  company  of  militia  that  responded 
to  the  "Lexington  Alarm,"  April  19th,  1775. 

Nathaniel  Hammond,  captain  ;  Nathaniel  Briggs,  lieuten- 
ant: John  Briggs,  Lemuel  LeBaron,  sergeants  ;  corporals, 

Increase  Clapp,  Samuel  Jenness,  John  ,  Charles  Stur- 

tevant,  Sturdevant,  Hammond,  Joel  Ellis,  Na- 
thaniel Sears,  Joseph  Haskell,  2d,  Benjamin  Dexter,  Daniel 

Hammond,  Briggs,  Samuel  Sampson,  Ichabod  Cla]*p, 

Joshua  Allen,  John  Allen,  Jr.,  John  Clarke,  Hosea  Boles, 
John  Keen,  Joseph  Wing,  Ebenezer  Hammond,  Elisha 
Briggs,  private  soldiers.  (See  roll  at  the  State  House.) 

July  3d,  1775,  voted  to  hire  one  hundred  pounds,  to  buy 
war  stores. 

Voted  that  those  who  have  good  guns,  but  no  ammuni- 
tion, repair  to  the  keepers  of  the  town  stores  aud  draw  half 
a  pound  of  powder,  and  bsills  answerable ;  they  paying  for 
the  same,  or  leaving  their  names. 

Aug.  7,  1775,  sundry  persons  subscribed  216f  yards  ot 
thick  cloth  for  the  army. 

May  23,  1776,  voted,  that  when  Congress  shall  declare 
Independence,  we  will  defend  them  with  lives  and  fortunes. 

Nov.  27,  1777,  made  choice  of  Seth  Dexter,  E.  Hammond 
and  E.  Haskell,  a  committee  to  supply  soldiers'  families. 

Oct.  9,  1778,  chose  a  committee  of  three  to  supply  the 
families  of  soldiers  who  arc  now  in  the  Continental  arm}'. 

The  patriotism  of  this  town  was  intense,  and  it  is  a  his- 
torical fact  that  Rochester  furnished  more  men  in  propor- 
tion to  territory  or  inhabitants  than  any  other  town  in  the 

Old  Colony.     But  there  was  one  notable  exception.     The 

• 
Tories  of  New  England  found  their  great  champion  in  the 

person  of  Timothy  Ruggles.  He  was  the  son  of  Rev.  Tim- 
othy Ruggles,  and  was  born  in  this  town  in  1711,  and  grad- 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  31 

uated  at*Harvard  University  in  1732.  He  represented  the 
town  in  the  Legislature  in  1736.  In  the  old  French  war  in 
1755,  with  the  rank  of  Brigadier  General,  he  led  a  body  of 
troops  to  join  Sir  William  Johnson.  He  distinguished  him- 
self in  the  action  with  Baron  Dieskau,  for  which  he  was  re- 
warded by  the  gift  of  a  lucrative  place.  • 

In  1757,  he  was  appointed  Associate  Justice  of  the  Com- 
mon Pleas,  and  subsequently  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
bench  of  that  court. 

To  the  congress  of  nine  colonies  at  New  York,  in  1765, 
he,  Otis  and  Partridge,  were  the  delegates  from  Massachu- 
setts. Ruggles  was  made  President  of  that  body.  His 
conduct  gave  great  dissatisfaction  to  the  Whigs  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  in  addition  to  a  vote  of  censure  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  he  was  reprimanded  in  his  place  from 
the  speaker's  chair. 

He  became,  as  the  Revolutionary  quarrel  advanced,  orie 
of  the  most  violent  supporters  of  the  ministry,  and  he  and 
Otis,  as  the  leaders  of  the  two  opposing  parties,  were  in 
constant  collision  in  the  discussions  of  the  popular  branch 
of  the  government. 

In  1774,  he  was  named  a  Mandamus  Councillor,  which 
increased  his  unpopularity  to  so  great  a  degree  that  his 
house  was  attacked  at  night  and  his  cattle  were  maimed  and 
poisoned.  He  died  at  Digby,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1798,  aged 
87  years. 

Sabine,  the  historian,  says  of  him,  "General  Ruggles 
was  a  good  scholar,  and  possessed  powers  of  mind  of  a  very 
high  order.  He  was  a  wit  and  a  misanthrope  ;  and  a  man 
of  rude  manners  and  rude  speech.  Many  anecdotes  con- 
tinue to  be  related  of  him,  which  show  his  shrewdness,  his 
sagacity,  his  military  hardihood  and  bravery.  As  a  lawyer, 
he  was  an  impressive  pleader,  and  in  parliamentary  debate, 
able  and  ingenious.  That  a  person  thus  constituted  should 


32  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

make  enemies,  other  than  those  which  men  in  prominent 
public  stations  usually  acquire,  is  not  strange,  and  he  had  a 
full  share  of  personal  foes.  In  Mrs.  .Warren's  dramatic 
piece  of  'The  Group,'  he  figures' in  the  character  of  Briga- 
dier Hate-all." 

Lieut. -Col.  Ehenezer  White  of  this  town  performed  good 
service  for  the  cause  of  his  country,  in  the  "days  that  tried 
men's  souls."  He  was  commissioned  as  Lieut. :Colonel  of 
the  Fourth  Regiment  Plymouth  County  Militia,  in  the  first 
year  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  while  participating  in 
one  of  the  engagements  that  took  place  in  Rhode  Island,  had 
a  part  of  the  hilt  of  his  sword  shot  off.  In  the  cemetery  at 
Rochester  Centre,  on  that  part  called  "Rochester  Town," 
stands  an  old  brown  stone,  bearing  the  following  inscrip- 
tion :  "  Memento  Mori,  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  Colonel 
Ebenezer  White,  who  died  March,  1804,  aged  80.  He  was 
1.9  times  chosen  to  represent  the  town  of  Rochester  in  the 
General  Court ;  in  14  of  which  elections  he  was  unanimously 
chosen.  As  a  tribute  of  respect  for  his  faithful  services, 
the  town  erected  this  monument  to  his  memory." 

Elnalhan  Haskell,  of  Rochester,  was  Major  of  Artillery 
in  the  Continental  army.  His  likeness  appears  in  one  of 
the  historical  paintings  that  adorn  the  dome  of  the  capitol 
at  Washington. 

In  visiting  your  ancient  cemetery,  I  scraped  the  moss 
from  an  old  tombstone  and  read  the  following:  "Ensign 
Ebenezer  Foster,  killed  at  the  taking  oi  Burgoyne,  Sept. 
19,  1777,  in  the  21st  year  of  his  age." 

In  your  town  records,  the  following  unique  biography 
may  be  seen  :  "  Ichabod  Burgess  departed  this  life  in  1834. 
He  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  and  during  the  whole 
war  he  nobly  dared  to  meet  in  awful  fight  the  enemies  of  his 
country.  He  fought  and  bled  and  conquered  ;  and  now  has 
conquered  his  last  enemy  and  joined  his  glorious  file  leader, 
Washington,  in  glory.5* 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  33 

I  have  searched  for  other  individual  records,  but  searched 
in  vain.  Alas,  the  old  Revolutionary  heroes  of  Rochester 
sleep  their  last  sleep,  and  nearly  all  those  who  listened  to 
their  deeds  of  valor  have  followed  them. 

Turn  we  now  to  the  history  of  Wareham  in  the  Revolu- 
tion. 

Pier  first  act  was  to  answer  the  people  of  Boston  as  fol- 
lows : 

At  the  request  of  the  town  of  Boston,  the  inhabitants  of 
the  town  of  Wareham  met  together  on  the  18th  day  of  Jan- 
uary, 1773,  to  consider  matters  of  grievances  the  Provinces 
are  under.  Capt.  Josiah  Carver,  moderator. 

Voted  to  act  on  the  request  of  the  town  of  Bo'ston. 

Chose  David  Xye,  Barnabas  Bates  and  Benjamin  Briggs 
a  committee  to  act  on  the  above  said  matters  of  grievances, 
and  la}r  it  before  the  town.  Voted  to  adjourn  to  the  8th  of 
February. 

Feb.  8th,  1774,  voted  to  receive  the  committee's  resolves 
and  record  them  on  the  town  books. 

1.  Resolved,  That  by  the  Charter  of  this  Province  we 
are  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  the  nat- 
ural born  citizens  of  Great  Britain,  therefore 

2.  Resolved,  That  the  raising  a  revenue  on  the  people^ 
by  a  legislative  authority  where  they  have  no  right  in  the 
election  or  returning  of  any  of  the  members,  is  a  great  griev- 
ance, as  we  are  thereby  taxed  by  other  than  our  own  repre- 
sentatives. 

3.  Resolved,  That  the  extensive  power  given  to  the  com- 
missioners of  His  Majesty's  customs  in  America  is  a  griev- 
ance. 

4.  Resolved,  That  the  affixing  salaries  on  the  Judges  of 
Supreme  Court  of  Judicature  within  this  Province  out  of 
the  aforesaid  revenue  is  a  grievance,  as  our  lives  and  prop- 
erty are  so  nearly  concerned  in  the  decision  of  the  Judges 

c 


34  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

who  hold  their  places  during  pleasure,  and  are  entirely  de- 
pendent on  the  Crown  for  their  support. 

5.  Resolved,  That  the  extending  the  power  of  the  courts 
of  vice  admiralty,  so  as  that  in  many  things  it  destroys  the 
privilege  of  the  trials  by  juries,  is  an  extreme  grievance ; 
and  in  particular  that  remarkable  distinction  made  between 
the  subjects  in  Great  Britain  and  those  in  these  colonies,  in 
sundry  acts  of  Parliament,   in  which  the  property  of  the 
colonies  is  given  up  to  the  determination  of  one*single  Judge 
of  Admiralty,  where  by  the  same  act  the  subject  in  Britain 
is  tried  in  His  Majesty's  Court  of  Record. 

6.  Resolved,  That  we  will  freely  join  with  the  town  of 
Boston,  or  any  or  all  other  towns  in  the  Province  to  take 
any  legal  measures  to  obtain  a  removal  of  the  above  griev- 
ance in  a  constitutional  manner. 

7.  Resolved,  That  whereas  we  are  not  in  the  capacity  to 
send  a  representative  to  represent  us  in  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  Province,  we  desire  the  committee  of  correspond- 
ence of  the  town  of  Boston  to  use  their  influence  in  that 
constitutional  body,  that  they  may  petition  our  most  gra- 
cious sovereign  for  a  removal  of  the  above  said  grievances, 
or  that  such  method  for  the  recovery  of  our  ancient  and 
valuable  privileges  as  in  their  wisdom  may  appear  most  con- 
ducive to  the  common  good  of  the  Province. 

8.  Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  town  be  returned 
to  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Boston  for  their  letter  of 
correspondence  and  the  care  they  have  taken  to  acquaint  the 
Province  in   general,   and   us  in   particular,   of  the   divers 
measures  that  have  been  and  still  arc  taken  to  deprive  us  of 
the  privileges  enjoyed  by  the  subjects  of  the  same  Prince  in 
Great  Britain. 

9.  Resolved,  That  if  any  person   for  the  sake  of  any 
post  of  honor,  or  for  any  private   advantage  whatsoever, 
shall  basely  desert  the  common  cause  of  British  freedom, 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  35 

and  endeavor  to  hinder  or  obstruct  our  thus  recovering  our 
ancient  and  invaluable  privileges,  he  shall  be  deemed  as  an 
enemy  to  his  country,  and  shall  be  treated  by  us  with  that 
neglect  and  contempt  that  his  behavior  deserves. 

Failing  to  obtain  a  constitutional  remedy,  they  resorted 
to  other  means;  and  on  Jan.  16,  1775,  they  voted  to  allow 
each  "Minute  Man"  Is.  4d.  per  week;  refused  to  pay  any 
Province  or  County  tax  under  the  King's  authority,  and 
voted  to  pi\y  the  Province  tax  already  made  to  Dr.  Andrew 
Mackie,  with  instructions  that  he  keep  it  subject  to  the 
town's  order. 

On  March  17,  1775,  they  voted  to  purchase  six  guns  for 
the  use  of  the  town,  and  directed  Nathan  Bassett  to  put 
the  other  guns  in  order  and  make  bayonets  to  fit  them,  for 
which  service  they  paid  him  £24,  16s.  6d. 

The  militia  company  of  Wareham,  that  responded  to  the 
call  April  19th,  1775: 

Commissioned  officers-  -Noah  Fearing,  captain ;  John 
Gibbs,  lieutenant.  Non-commissioned  officers — Jonathan 
Gibbs,  Joseph  Sturtevant,  sergeants;  Euos  Howard,  corpo- 
ral; Thomas  Norris,  drummer;  Joseph  Bumpus,  Jorseph 
Winslow,  Jesse  Swift, Bumpus,  John  Bates, Bas- 
sett, Benjamin  Swift,  Jno.  Bourne,  Archipaus  Saundera. 
Hathaway,  Samuel  Savery,  David  Nye,  privates. 

Company  of  "Minute  Men  "  from  "Wareham  that  marched 
to  Marshfield,  April  19,  1775  : 

Commissioned  officers — Israel  Fearing,  captain  ;  Joshua 
Briggs,  lieutenant;  Ebenezer  Chubbuck,  second  lieutenant. 
Non-commissioned  officers — Samuel  Savery,  Prince  Bur- 
gess, Edward  Sparrow,  Burgess,  sergeants ;  Jno. 

Besse,  drummer;  Joshua  Besse,  fifer ;  Samuel  Burgess, 
Sylvester  Bumpus,  Calvin  Howard,  Wilbur  Swift,  Ben- 
jamin Gibbs,  Samuel  Phillips,  Ruf'us  Perry,  Nathaniel 
Burgess,  Joshua  Gibbs,  Jr.,  William  Parris,  Isaac  Ames, 


36  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

William  Burapus,  David  Perry,  Benjamin  Briggs,  Bar- 
nabas Bumpus,  Elisba  Burgess,  Richard  Soars,  Asaph 
Bates,  Jabez  Nye,  Jno.  Lothrop,  Ebenezer  Bourne,  Willis 
Barrows,  Samuel  Norris,  Joseph  Bumpus,  Elisha  Swift, 
Jabez  Besse,  Samuel  Morse,  Thomas  Sampson,  Timothy 
Chubbuck,  privates. 

Soon  after  this  the  following  men  enlisted  for  six  months, 
were  stationed  along  the  shore  in  this  town,  and  paid  by  the 
State.  A  part  of  them,  however,  went  to  Roxbury,  and 
there  served  two  months  of  the  time:  Ebenezer  Chubbuck, 
Samuel  Bassett,  Nathan  Bassett,  Barnabas  Bates,  David 
Saunders,  Barn  abas  Bumpus,  Judah  Swift,  Daniel  Perry, 
Jabez  Nye,  Joseph  Bos  worth,  John  Brsse,  Joshua  Besse, 
Joseph  Saunders,  Wm.  Conant,  Joseph  Bumpus,  Ephraim 
Norris,  Rufus  Perry,  Baruabas  Bates,  Jr.,  Consider  Sturte- 
vant,  John  Bourne,  Benjamin  Russell,  Samuel  Morse,  Ca- 
leb Burgess,  Joseph  Bates,  Thomas  Bates,  Samuel  Bates. 

At  the  same  time  the  following  were  in  the  army  near 
Boston,  with  the  eight  months'  men  :  Lieut.  Willard  Swift, 
Edward  Spooner,  Lemuel  Caswell,  John  Lathrop,  Cal/in 
Howard,  Samuel  Phillips,  Samuel  Barrows,  Benjamin  Chub- 
buck,  William  Thorn. 

Two  others  went  to  the  Lakes;  so  that  this  little  town, 
tiiat  did  not  have  voters  enough  to  entitle  it  to  a  represen- 
tative, furnished  thirty-six  soldiers  the  first  year  of  the  war. 

And  when  the  public  authorities  called  for  a  re-enlistment 
for  the  term  of  one  year,  and  it  was  submitted  to  the  citi- 
zens of  Warehara,  to  see  who  would  enlist  for  1776,  the 
following  responded :  Edward  Sparrow,  Josiah  Harlow, 
Willard  Swift,  Lemuel  Caswell,  Samuel  Barrows,  Samuel 
Phillips,  William  Pierce,  Arthur  Hathaway,  Wm.  Thorn, 
Jesse  Swift,  Benjamin  Gibbs,  Caleb  Burgess,  •Benjamin 
Burgess,  William  Bumpus,  Benjamin  Swift,  John  Gait,  Sol- 
omon Hitchman,  Rufus  Perry. 


BI-CEKTENKIAL.  3» 

They  joined  the  army  near  Boston,  and  after  the  British 
evacuated  that  place  went  to  New  York. 

In  June  there  was  another  call  for  men  to  go  to  New 
York,  when  Joseph  Bates,  Perez  Briggs,  William  Hunt, 
Joseph  Bosworth,  Nathaniel  Burgess,  Benjamin  Swift,  and 
Benjamin  Chubbuck,  enlisted  for  the  term  of  five  months; 
making  twenty-five  men  in  the  regular  army  the  second 
year  of  the  war. 

Upon  the  call  of  Congress  for  men  to  serve  in  the  Conti- 
nental army  for  three  years,  or  during  the  war,  commencing 
with  1777,  the  following  enlisted  and  were  marched  against 
Burgoyne's  army:  Lieut.  Joseph  Bates,  Joseph  Saunders, 
Jonathan  Saunders,  William  Conant,  Lot  Sturdevant,  Na- 
than Sturdevant,  Moses  Sturdevant,  David  Burgess,  Solo- 
mon Hitchman,  James  Bumpus,  Amaziah  King,  Reuben 
Maxim,  Joseph  Bumpus,  William  Pnrkman. 

About  the  same  time  the  State  called  for  two  months' 
men,  to  go  to  Rhode  Island,  when  the  following  responded 
to  the  call,  and  were  stationed  near  Rowland's  Ferry  :  Silas 
Besse,  Hallett  Briggs,  Benjamin  Bourne,  Joseph  Swift, 
John  Winslow,  Asa  Bumpus. 

After  this  Lieut.  Prince  Burgess,  Ebenezer  Burgess  and 
Herman  Sturdevant  went  to  Rhode  Island  and  were  in  the 
battle  fought  by  Gen.  Sullivan,  at  the  south  end  of  the 
island,  and  it  is  said  they  all  fought  bravely. 

In  August  of  this  year,  nearly  every  man  of  the  militia 
went  against  Newport,  on  the  secret  expedition  which  did 
not  succeed,  and  they  soon  returned. 

March  26,  1777,  chose  Jeremiah  Bumpus,  Ebenezer 
Chubbuck,  Israel  Fearing,  Edward  Sparrow  and  Barnabas 
Bates,  Jr.,  a  committee  of  correspondence,  inspection  and 
sutety. 

Sept.  29,  voted  £23  to  pay  for  one  hundred  pounds  of 
powder. 


38  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

Nov.  25,  voted  £100  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  the 
families  of  the  Continental  soldiers,  and  chose  a  committee 
to  provide  such  articles  as  they  should  need. 

Soon  after  the  taking  of  Gen.  Burgoyne's  army,  Barnabas 
Bates,  Silas  Besse,  Silas  Fearing,  John  Gait,  David  Perry, 
Jabez  Besse  and  Nathan  Norris  went  to  Boston  on  a  three 
months'  tour,  to  guard  the  prisoners. 

March  2,  1778,  chose  John  Fearing,  James  Burgess,  An- 
drew Mackie,  Samuel  Savery  and  Barnabas  Bates  a  commit- 
tee of  correspondence,  inspection  and  safety. 

Oct.  5,  voted  to  raise  money  to  pay  for  soldiers'  clothing, 
and  chose  a  committee  to  supply  the  soldiers'  families  the 
ensuing  year. 

Jan.  11,  1779,  voted  to  raise  by  tax  £184  in  the  west  end 
of  the  town  to  pay  two  nine  months'  men,  viz.  t  Andrew 
Sturdevant  and  Asa  Bumpus. 

Voted  to  raise  soldiers  in  the  future  by  a  town  tax,  and  a 
committee  was  chosen  to  hire  them  for  the  town. 

March  8,  chose  John  Fearing,  Joshua  Gibbs  and  David 
Nye,  to  see  that  there  be  no  forestalling  and  monopolizing 
in  the  town,  agreeably  to  an  act  of  the  General  Court. 

Chose  John  Fearing,  Andrew  Mackie,  Samuel  Savery, 
Barnabas  Bates  and  Prince  Burgess,  a  committee  of  corres* 
pondence,  inspection  and  safety* 

July  5,  chose  a  committee  to  supply  the  soldiers'  families 
with  the  necessaries  of  life.  Voted  £110,  16s.,  to  pay  sol- 
diers'  bounty  and  mileage. 

Dec.  6,  voted  to  send  to  Boston  for  160  pounds  ot 
powder. 

March  22,  1780,  chose  Israel  Fearing,  Barnabas  Bates 
mid  Rowland  Thatcher,  a  committee  of  correspondence,  in- 
spection and  safety. 

June  20,  voted  that  the  six  months'  men  now  sent  into 
service  be  hired  by  a  tax,  and  that  each  man  have  69  silver 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  39 

dollars,  as  a  bounty,  and  130  paper  dollars  per  man  mileage 
money. 

Voted  to  eleven  three  months'  men  40  silver  dollars  per 
man  and  100  paper  dollars  per  mile. 

Capt.  John  Gibbs,  William  Conant,  Thomas  Bates,  Silas 
Besse,  Lot  Thacher,  Lot  Bumpus,  Seth  Stevens,  Isaac  Ste- 
vens, Geo.  Glover,  Benjamin  Benson,  George  Gurney  and 
Thomas  Barrows  were  the  captain  and  eleven  men  men- 
tioned in  the  last  vote.  These  men  went  to  Rhode  Island. 

Sept.  21,  voted  to  raise  £86,  17s.  hard  money,  to  pay  for 
beef  sent  to  the  army. 

Dec.  26,  voted  to  raise  seven  men  for  the  army  during 
the  war. 

July  9,  1781,  chose  a  committee  to  procure  beef  for  the 
army. 

Sept.  24,  voted  for  two  five  months'  soldiers,  £21  ;  for 
four  three  months'  men,  £72;  and  for  seven  three  years' 
soldiers,  £126. 

Oct.  8,  voted  £235,  8s.,  to  pay  for  9146  Ibs.  of  beef  sent 
to  the  Continental  army  ;  and  £15  for  400  Ibs.  of  beef  for 
soldiers'  families. 

Dec.  17,  voted  to  join  with  Plymouth  to  petition  to  take 
off  the  excise  act. 

Sept,  16,  1782,  voted  £210  for  seven  three  years'  sol- 
diers. 

Sept.  29,  1783,  voted  £180  for  six  three  years'  soldiers. 

Wareham  furnished  about  one  hundred  soldiers  for  the 
entire  war.  We  have  the  names  of  86,  who  served  at  dif- 
ferent times  ;  13  of  them  dying  in  the  service. 

There  are  some  instances  of  individual  bravery,  worthy 
of  special  record. 

On  the  7th  of  September,  1778,  the  British  troops  made 
an  attempt  to  destroy  the  village  of  Fairhaven,  but  were 
bravely  repulsed  by  a  small  force,  commanded  by  Major 


40  fcOCHESTER's    BI-CEJ?TEXXtAL. 

Israel  Fearing1  of  Wareham.  The  enemy  a  day  or  two  pre- 
viously had  burned  houses  and  destroyed  a  large  amount  of 
property  at  New  Bedford.  The  following  is  from  Dwifht's 
Travels,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  71  : 

"From  this  place  the}' marched  around  to  the  head  of 
the  river  to  Sconticut  Point,  on  the  eastern  side,  leaving  in 
their  course,  for  some  unknown  reason,  the  villages  ot  Ox- 
ford and  Fairhaveu.  Here  they  continued  till  Monday,  and 
then  re-emharked.  The  following  night  a  large  body  of 
them  proceeded  up  the  river,  with  a  design  to  finish  the 
work  of  destruction,  by  burning  Fairhaven.  A  critical  at- 
tention to  their  movements  had  convinced  the  inhabitants 
that  this  was  their  design,  and  induced  them  to  prepare  for 
their  reception.  The  militia  of  the  neighboring  country  had 
been  summoned  to  the  defence  of  this  village.  Their  com- 
mander was  a  man  far  advanced  in  years.  Under  the  influ- 
ence of  that  languor  which  at  this  period  enfeebles  both  the 
body  and  the  mind,  he  determined  that  the  place  must  be 
given  up  to  the  enemy,  and  that  no  opposition  to  their  rav- 
ages could  be  made  with  any  hope  of  success. 

This  decision  of  their  officer  necessarily  spread  its  be- 
numbing influence  over  the  militia,  and  threatened  an  abso- 
lute prevention  of  all  enterprise  and  the  destruction  of  this 
handsome  village. 

Among  the  officers  belonging  to  the  brigade  was  Israel 
Fearing,  Esq.,  a  major  of  one  of  the  regiments.  This  gal- 
lant young  man,  observing  the  torpor  which  was  spreading 
among  the  troops,  invited  as  many  as  had  sufficient  spirit  to 
follow  him,  and  station  themselves  at  the  post  of  danger. 
Among  those  who  accepted  the  invitation  was  one  of  the 
colonels,  who  of  course  became  the  commandant ;  but  after 
they  had  arrived  at  Fairhaven,  and  the  night  had  come  on, 
he  proposed  to  march  the  troops  back  into  the  country.  He 
was  warmly  opposed  by  Major  Fearing;  and  finding  that  he 


ROCHESTER'S   BI-CENTEXMAL.  41 

could  not  prevail,  prudently  retired  to  a  house  three  miles 
distant,  where  he  passed  the  night  in  safety.  . 

After  the  colonel  had  withdrawn,  Major  Fearing,  now 
commander-in-chief,  arranged  his  men  with  activity  and 
skill ;  and  soon  perceived  the  British  approaching.  The 
militia,  in  the  strictest  sense  raw,  already  alarmed  by  the 
reluctance  of  their  superior  officers  to  meet  the  enemy,  and 
naturally  judging  that  men  of  years  must  understand  the 
real  state  of  the  danger  better  than  Major  Fearing,  a  mere 
youth,  were  panic  struck  at  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  and 
instantly  withdrew  from  their  post.  At  this  critical  mo- 
ment, Major  Fearing  with  the  decision  which  awes  men  into 
a  strong  sense  of  duty,  rallied  them,  and  placing  himself  in 
the  rear,  declared  in  a  tone  which  removed  all  don  lit,  that 
he  would  kill  the  first  man  whom  he  found  retreating.  The 
resolution  of  their  chief  recalled  theirs.  With  the  utmost 
expedition  he  then  led  them  to  the  scene  of  danger.  The 
British  had  already  set  fire  to  several  stores.  Between  these 
buildings  and  the  rest  of  the  village  he  stationed  his  troops, 
and  ordered  them  to  lie  close  in  profound  silence,  until  the 
enemy,  who  were  advancing,  should  have  come  so  near  that 
no  marksman  could  easily  mistake  his  object.  The  orders 
were  punctually  obeyed.  When  the  enemy  had  arrived 
within  this  distance,  the  Americans  arose,  and  with  a  well 
[lirectcd  fire  gave  them  a  warm  and  unexpected  reception. 
The  British  fled  instantly  to  their  boats,  and  fell  down  the 
river  with  the  utmost  expedition.  From  the  quantity  of 
blood  found  the  next  day  in  their  line  of  march,  it  was  sup- 
posed that  their  loss  was  considerable.  Thus  did  this  heroic- 
youth,  in  opposition  to  his  superior  officers,  preserve  Fair- 
haven,  and  merit  a  statue  from  its  inhabitants." 

Nor  were  the  operations  of  our  patriotic  citizens  confined 
to  the  land.  Capt.  Barzillai  Besse  went  out  privateering 
tinder  a  commission  from  the  State,  in  an  armed  sloop,  and 
c2 


42  ROCHESTER'S   BI-CENTENNIAL. 

took  one  prize.  He,  together  with  John  Gibbg  and  sonic 
others  of  his  crew,  left  his  vessel  at  Nantncket  and  went  on 
board  Captain  Dimmick  of  Falmonth,  as  volunteers  in  a 
wood  sloop  borrowed  in  the  place  lor  the  occasion,  and  run- 
ning down  towards  the  enemy's  vessel,  wl  ich  was  a  shaving 
mill  mounting  six  swivels.  Dimmick  was  ordered  to  strike. 
He  showed  submission  ;  but  in  running  under  the  stern,  he 
put  his  bowsprit  under  the  enemy's  taffrnil,  and  calling  upon 
his  men,  they  sprang  on  board,  killed  the  English  captain 
and  took  the  vessel,  in  a  few  minutes. 

Also  a  ten-gun  sloop,  named  the  Hancock,  owned  by  John 
Carver,  Nathan  Bassett  and  others,  was  fitted  out  from  this 
place  as  a  privateer,  commanded  by  James  Southard.  The 
first  cruise,  they  went  to  the  West  Indies  and  took  two 
prizes.  The  second  cruise,  they  took  two  Grand  Bank  fish- 
ermen, both  brigs,  and  brought  them  into  Wareham. 

Rufus  Lincoln  enlisted  at  the  commencement  of  the  war, 
rose  to  the  rank  of  captain,  and  fought  in  the  battle  of 
Bemis  Heights,  Princeton  and  other  battles.  He  was  at 
one  time  taken  prisoner,  and  kept  for  a  long  time  in  a 
prison  near  Philadelphia. 

Nathan  Savery  and  John  Bourne  marched  into  the  fort  at 
Ticonderoga,  under  Ethan  Allen,  when  he  demanded  its  sur- 
render "in  the  name  of  the  Great  Jehovah  and  the  Conti- 
nental Congress."'  They  were  also  present  at  the  taking  of 
Crown  Point. 

Lieut.  Josiah  Smith  was  a  member  of  the  "Society  of 
Cincinnati,"  and  one  of  Washington's  Life  Guard.  He 
fought  in  the  battles  of  Saratoga,  Monmouth  and  Yorktown, 
and  was  one  of  "Mad  Anthony's  "  forlorn  hope  that  stormed 
and  captured  Stony  Point,  one  hundred  years  ago  last  Wed- 
nesday, (an  event  that  electrified  the  nations.  Paris  was 
all  ablaze,  and  for  many  days  her  streets  rang  with  nothing 
but  the  name  of  Gen.  Wayne.)  This  brave  old  soldier 


4  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL,  43 

•;  Sank  to  rest, 

With  all  his  country's  honors  blest." 

In  1845,  at  the  extraordinary  age  of  92,  and  was  buried  with 
military  honors. 

•  WAR  OF  1812-15. 

Our  people  were  not  as  zealously  engaged  in  this  war  as 
in  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  A  large  portion  of  New 
.England  was  opposed  to  the  declaration  of  war,  uot  be- 
lieving there  was  sufficient  cause  for  war.  When  a  bill 
was  discussed  in  Congress  appropriating  three  millions 
for  the  conduct  of  the  war,  Daniel  Webster  declared  he 
would  not  vote  for  it,  "  if  the  guns  of  the  enemy  were  bat- 
tering down  the  capitol.'' 

The  British  frigate  Nimrod  anchored  oft'  "Gre.it  Hill"  in 
June.  1814,  and  200  marines  in  barges  landed  at  Wareham, 
where  they  destroyed  property  to  the  amount  of  $25,000, 

On  departing,  they  left  word  that  they  should  soon  re- 
turn. A  military  company  was  at  once  formed,  with  com- 
missioned officers;  trenches  were  dug  on  one  of  the 
"  Necks,"  where  their  guns  would  rake  the  channel,  and 
here  they  drilled  and  watched  for  the  space  of  three 
months. 

If  the  British  had  made  their  words  good,  they  would 
have  met  with  a  warm  reception. 

A  large  number  of  our  citizens  served  in  the  "Coast 
Guard,"  and  twelve  men  went  from  Wareham  to  Xevvport, 
and  were  there  employed  in  the  corps  called  "  Sea  Fenci- 
bles,"  where  they  served  until  peace  was  declared. 

Moses  Bumpus  and  James  Miller  shipped  on  board  a  pri- 
vateer, where  Bumpus  was  killed  and  Miller  lost  a  leg  by  a 
cannon  ball.  Of  the  few  men  killed  on  the  American  side, 
it  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  Joseph  Saunders  of  Wareham 
was  one. 


44  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CEKTENNIAL.  , 

William  Bates  of  Warcham,.in  early  life,  so  distinguished 
himself  in  the  battle  of  Bladensburg,  that  honorable  men- 
tion is  made  of  him  in  history.  He  subsequently  Iweame  a 
famous  instructor  of  youth  in  his  native  town,  fitting  many 
young  men  for  college,  filled  various  local  offices  with  honor, 
and  at  one  time  ran  for  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State  in 
this  Commonwealth,  but  his  part}'  ticket  was  defeated. 
His  ability,  both  natural  and  acquired,  was  of  a  high  order. 

Seth  Leonard  of  Wareham,  performed  a  feat  during  this 
war  that  would  have  gained  him  deification  among  the  an- 
cients. He  happened  to  be  in  Stonington,  Conn.,  in  1814, 
when  the  British  frigate  Ximrod  attempted  to  enter  the  har- 
bor. Causing  an  old  cannon  to  be  hastily  mounted,  he  al- 
most single-handed  and  alone,  served  it  with  such  precision 
and  effect  that  the  frigate  was  obliged  to  retire  to  repair 
damages,  and  Stonington  was  saved. 

WAR    OF    THE    REBELLION. 

Iii  this  war,  Rochester  furnished  for  the  army  and  navy 
125  men.  Of  these,  '.'  died  in  the  service. 

.Marion  furnished  for  the  army  and  navy  25  men.  Of 
these,  G  died  in  the  service. 

Mattapoisett  furnished  215  men  for  the  army  and  navy. 
Of  these,  18  died  in  the  service. 

Wareham  furnished  320  men  for  the  army  and  navy.  t)f 
these,  34  died  in  the  service. 

Three  brothers,  Joshua  Besse,  Jr.,  Ichabod  Besse  and 
Lathrop  A.  Besse,  and  Benjamin  B.  Besse,  the  son  of  the  first 
named,  were  in  the  buttles  of  Antietam  and  Gettysburg. 
Benjamin  B.  Besse  enlisted  at  the  commencement  of  the 
war  at  the  age  of  15,  and  was  engaged  in  more  than  forty 
battles. 

William  A.  -Edson  was 'wounded  at  the  battle  of  Ball's 
Bluff,  a  minie  ball  passing  entirely  through  his  body.  He 


ROCHESTER'S  BI- CENTENNIAL.  45 

remained  in  the  hospital  awhile,  came  home,  re-enlisted, 
served  a  few  months,  was  pronounced  unlit  tor  duty,  came 
home  again,  and  soon  after  died.  He  was  called  by  his 
comrades,  "The  Iron  Man." 

Mr.  President,  as  I  have  been  looking  over  the  military 
record  of  our  sons  in  the  late  terrible  war,  my  tears  have 
wet  that  record  as  I  have  read,  "Died  of  Starvation"  ap- 
pended to  the  names  of  four. 

And  when  their  piercing  shrieks  came  up  from  the  stench 
pens  and  miasma  yards  of  Andersouville,  Salisbury  and 
Belle  Isle,  and  reached  the  ear  of  that  old  public  function- 
ary at  Richmond,  one  stroke  of  his  pen,  o--e  word  from  his 
mouth  would  have  saved  them,  but  he  was  as  silent  as  if  he 
had  been  in  the  tombs  of  the  Capulets. 

A  few  years  ago  I  was  conversing  with  a  distinguished 
clergymau,  who  had  grown  gray  in  the  service  of  his  Mas- 
ter, on  this  topic.  We  had  uot  proceeded  far,  ere  he  began 
to  manifest  a  little  righteous  indignation.  Said  he,  "  If  a 
son  of  mine  had  been  starved  there,  I  would  have  had  my 
revenge  on  Jeff.  Davis  if  I  pursued  him  to  the  gates  of 
hell."  "But,"  said  I,  "you  don't  mean  that."  "Yes," 
said  he,  "  I  mean  it."  And  he  looked  it,  as  much  as 
ever  Andrew  Jackson  did  when  he  swore  "  by  the  Eter- 
nal !" 

Now  I  am  not  prepared  to  go  as  far  as  that,  but  I  will  tell 
you  where  I  stand.  We  read  that  the  devil  goeth  about  as 
a  roaring  lion  seeking  whom  he  may  devour,  and  if  I  should 
see  him  running  off  with  Jeff.  Davis  in  his  mouth,  I  would 
..  be  the  last  man  to  cry  "stop  thief  I"  Yet  while  I  stood  ex- 
ulting he  would  drop  him,  finding  that  he  had  made  a  mis- 
take, for  Satan  is  ashamed  of  a  man  who  would  starve  his 
fellow  man,  as  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  he  once  im- 
plored the  Creator  of  this  earth  to  turn  the  stones  into' 
bread. 


46  ROCHESTER'S    BI-CENTENNIAL. 

I  have  sometimes  thought  that  at  the  Lust  Great  Day, 
when  tho  angel  shall  stand  with  one  toot  upon  the  sea  and 
the  other  upon  the  land,  and  putting  the  golden  trumpet  to 
his  month  shall  swear  by  him  that  livcth  and  reigneth,  time 
was,  time  is,  but  time  shall  be  no  more,  he  would  have  to 
give  an  extra  blast  to  arouse  the  monsters  of  the  earth. 
Antiochus,  Epiphanes,  Asdrubal,  Jenghis  Khan,  Hamilcar,. 
Nero,  Tamerlane,  George  Jeffrej's,  the  judicial  butcher, 
Nina  Sahib,  Caligula,  the  builder  of  the  Black  Hole  of  Cal- 
cutta, Jeff.  Davis,  and  their  kin  will  turn  from  side  to  side 
in  their  dusty  beds  and  howl  at  the  angel,  as  their  ancestors 
howled  at  the  Saviour,  "  Hast  thou  come  to  torment  us  be- 
fore the  time?"  Again  the  fearful  tones  of  the  trumpet  are 
heard,  "  Time  shall  be  no. longer." 

Reluctantly  they  arise  and  appropriately  form  the  rear- 
guard in  the  resurrection.  Think  ye,  will  not  the  hounds 
of  Bedlam  grow  leaner  in  the  presence  of  such  rivals? 

HONORED    SONS    OF    SIPPICAN. 

Turn  we  now  from  this  revolting  contemplation  and  from 
the  record  of  the  wars,  to  things  more  pleasing.  Let  us- 
notice  some  of  the  sons  of  the  old  Sippican  tract  who  have 
distinguished  themselves  in  the  walks  of  life,  and  gained  far 
move  than  a  local  reputation. 

Ebenezer  Swift  was  bom  in  "\Vareham,  October  8th,  1817. 
He  entered  the  United  States  army  as  a  medical  officer,  in 
the  Spring  of  1847,  and  in  August  of  the  same  year  was 
promoted  to  a  1st  lieutenant  of  his  corps.  He  reported  for 
duty  to  Gen.  Franklin  Pierce  at  Vera  Cmz,  and  on  the  ar- 
rival of  his  division  of  the  army  at  Puebla,  he  was  assigned 
to  duty  as  aid  to  Gen.  Lawson,  at  Gen.  Scott's  headquar- 
ters, and  with  Capt.  Phil.  Kearney,  who  commanded  tliL 
General's  body  guard.  He  was  present  in  every  battle  irj> 


ROCHESTER'S   BI-CENTENNIAL.  47 

which  our  troops  were  engaged,  on  the  line  from  Vera  Cruz 
to  the  city  of  Mexico,  except  Cerro  Gordo.  At  one  time, 
during  the  battle  of  Molino  del  Rey,  Gen.  Worth,  who  com- 
manded in  person,  ordered  him  to  fall  back  with  our  waver- 
ing lines,  saying:  "You  are  drawing  tire  from  the  enemy's 
artillery  at  Chepultapec."  Dr.  Swift,  who  was  earnestly 
engaged,  did  not  look  up  from  his  work,  and  on  account  of 
smoke,  dust  and  noise,  did  not  recognize  the  person  ad- 
dressing him,  and  simply  replied  :  "  1  will  in  a  moment, 
after  another  amputation,  sir."  He  had  not  discovered  that 
our  lines  had  been  driven  back  in  some  disorder  by  the  en- 
emy, and  that  he  was  exposed  to  a  fire  in  front  and  upon 
our  right  flank,  while  our  troops  were  reforming  for  another 
charge. 

Another  incident  of  a  similar  nature  occurred  later  in  the 
same  day,  when  his  horse  was  shot  while  being  held  by  his 
orderly. 

The  above  was  reported  verbally  to  Gen.  Scott,  who  per- 
sonally complimented  him  in  the  presence  of  his  entire  staff: 
and  subsequently  mentioned  him  with  favor  in  his  report  to 
the  Secretary  of  War. 

He  several  times  commanded  troops  and  posts  on  our  In- 
dian border ;  was  military  aid  to  Gov.  Walker,  in  our  Kan- 
sas troubles ;  and  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  was  recom- 
mended for  promotion,  for  gallant  conduct  at  the  battle  of 
Stone  River,  in  Tennessee,  and  in  other  engagements  ;  for 
all  of  which  he  received  three  brevet  commissions,  the  high- 
est being  Brigadier  General. 

During  reconstruction  South,  he  was  for  more  than  a  year 
Mayor  of  the  city  of  Vicksburg,  and  also  in  performance  of 
other  important  civil  duties. 

Gen.  Swift  is  still  retained  in  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  and  resides  at  Staten  Island,  occupying  a  mansion 
that  was  formerly  the  home  of  one  of  the  Vanderbilts. 


48  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CEXTENXIAL. 

"Hon.  Abraham  Holmes  was  born  in  Rochester,  June  i>, 
1754.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Plymouth  County  at 
the  April  term,  1800.  He  was  then  nearly  forty-six  years 
of  age.  He  had  previously  been  President  of  the  Court  of 
Sessions,  and  though  not  regularly  educated  for  the  profes- 
sion, the  members  of  the  bar  voted  his  admission  in  consid- 
eration of  'his  respectable  official  character,  learning  and 
abilities,  on  condition  that  he  study  three  months  in  some 
attorney's  office.'  He  might  be  called,  with  great  pro- 
priety, a  self-made  lawyer.  He  continued  in  practice  till 
August,  1835,  when  eighty-one  years  of  age,  with  a  consid- 
erable degree 'of  reputation  and  success.  Even  when  thus 
advanced  in  life,  he  was  a  regular  attendant  upon  the  ses- 
sions of  the  court,  and  was  regarded  as  an  acute  and  learned 
lawyer.  In  his  intercourse  with  the  bar,  he  was  courteous 
and  familiar,  especially  toward  the  younger  members. 

He  was  full  of  anecdote  and  traditional  lore,  abounding 
in  wit  and  humor.  His  mind  was  well  stoied  with  facts  re- 
lating to  the  older  members  of  the  bar,  and  so  late  as  June, 
1834,  when  eighty  years  of  age,  he  delivered  a  very  inter- 
esting address  at  New  Bedford,  to  the  bar  of  Bristol  County, 
in  which  he  discoursed  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  pro- 
fession in  Massachusetts,  with  sketches  of  the  early  law- 
yers ;  of  the  necessity  of  such  an  order  of  men  ;  and  upon 
the  duties  of  the  profession." 

He  was  a  member  of  the  State  Convention  to  revise  the 
Constitution,  in  1820,  and  took  a  part  in  the  debates. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Executive  Council  of  Massachu- 
setts for  the  political  year,  May,  1821-22,  and  May, 
1822-23,  when  Governor  Brooks  was  in  office. 

He  furnished  some  items  for  "Tudor's  Life  of  James 
Otis;"  wrote  an  essay  on  the  nature  and  uses  of  a  "  Writ 
of  Right,"  and  he  left  in  manuscript  many  interesting  rem- 
iniscences of  the  olden  times. 


ROCHESTER'S    BI-CENTENNIAL.  49 

His  writings  show  great  ability.  Rev.  Jonathan  Bigelow, 
who  knew  him  well,  said:  "If  he  had  only  been  favored 
with  a  liberal  education,  it  would  have  been  his  own  fault 
if  he  had  not  become  the  Chief  Justice  of  Massachusetts." 

After  his  decease,  which  occurred  Sept.  7,  1839,  the 
members  of  the  bar  of  the  counties  of  Bristol,  Plymouth 
and  Barnstable,  at  a  meeting  held  at  Plymouth,  Oct.  25, 
1839,  paid  a  most  respectful  tribute  to  his  talents,  learning 
and  character,  and  adopted  a  resolution  expressing  a  high 
sense  of  his  professional  worth;  as  a  man  "whose  mind 
was  enriched  with  various  learning ;  whose  memory  was  a 
repository  of  the  most  valuable  reminiscences ;  whose  legal 
attainments  gave  him  high  professional  eminence,  and  whose 
social  qualities  were  an  ornament  of  the  circle  of  friendship 
during  a  long  life  of  integrity  and  usefulness." 

Mr.  Holmes  was  one  of  those  grand  old  characters  whose 
history  it  is  delightful  to  contemplate.  Intimately  associ- 
ated with  the  Otises  of  Barnstable,  and  the  Freemans  of 
Sandwich — those  giants  of  the  Revolutionary  period — he 
struck  hard  blows  for  the  cause  of  freedom.  In  old  age,  he 
writes:  "The  retrospection  ot  these  olden  times  resusci- 
tated all  the  feelings,  sensations  and  animations  of  1774; 
such  as  none  can  feel  in  the  same  degree  who  did  not  live  at 
the  time  and  participate  in  the  fears  and  hopes,  toils  and 
dangers  of  those  times.  The  contemplation  of  those  events 
gives  me  a  satisfaction  unknown  to  the  miser  in  counting 
his  hoards ;  the  agriculturist,  when  his  corn  and  wine  in- 
creaseth  ;  or  the  merchant,  when  his  ships  return  laden  with 
the  riches  of  the  East." 

Through  life  he  held  a  correspondence  with  the  greatest 
and  best  men  of  our  country,  and  letters  still  in  existence 
show  that  they  felt  honored  by  his  friendship. 

"Hon.  Charles  Jarvis  Holmes,  son  of  the  preceding,  was 
born  at  Rochester,  May  9,  1790. 
D 


50  ROCHESTER'S   BI-CENTENNIAL. 

He  studied  l;iw  in  the  office  of  his  father,  in  Rochester,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  Plymouth  county  bar  in  1812,  just  before 
the  commencement  of  the  second  war  with  Great  Britain. 
He  practiced  his  profession  in  his  native  town  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ;  identified  with  the  feelings  and  inter- 
ests, and  enjoying  the  confidence  of  his  fellow  citizens.  He 
represented  Rochester  in  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts 
in  the  years  1816,  1817,  1819,  1820,  1824,  1826,  1827, 
1831,  1832.  He  was  a  Senator  Irom  Plymouth  County  in 
1829  and  1830  ;  a  member  of  the  Executive  Council  in  1835, 
and  an  Elector  of  President  and  Vice  President  in  1836. 
He  tilled  all  these  offices  while  residing  in  Rochester. 

In  December,  1838,  with  a  view  to  more  extended  pro- 
fessional practice,  he  removed  to  Taunton.  In  1842  he  was 
appointed  by  President  Tyler,  Collector  of  Customs  for  Fall 
River ;  to  which  place  he  removed  his  residence.  He  re- 
mained there  till  towards  the  close  of  his  life.  He  filled  at 
various  periods  other  offices  of  some  importance,  as  Master 
in  Chancery,  Commissioner  of  Bankruptcy,  &c.  All  the 
duties  of  these  offices  he  faithfully  discharged.  He  was  a 
man  of  ardent  friendship,  genial  temperament,  of  a  high 
sense  of  honor.  His  intellectual  powers  were  strong  and 
well  cultivated,  although  he  was  not  educated  at  college. 
He  was  a  careful  reader  of  the  English  classics,  and  a  thor- 
ough student  of  the  law.  In  political  life,  he  was  ardent, 
sanguine,  strong  in  his  convictions,  and  indefatigable  in 
maintaining  them.  He  wrote  his  own  epitaph,  closing  with 
these  words  :  "By  profession  a  lawyer  ;  by  practice  a  peace- 
maker." He  died  at  Fall  River,  May  13,  1859,  aged  69. 

The  ancestors  of  the  Holmes  family  in  America  were  nu- 
merous in  England,  generations  ago,  and  some  of  them  were 
composed  of  stern  material.  The  following  may  be  found 
in  Macaulay's  History  of  England,  vol.  I,  page  509  : 

"The   claims  of  the   King   to    unbounded   authority   in 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  51 

things  temporal,  and  the  claim  of  the  Clergy  to  the  spiritual 
power  of  binding  and  loosing,  moved  the  bitter  scorn  of  the 
intrepid  Sectaries.  Some  of  them  composed  hymns  in  the 
dungeon,  and  chanted  them  on  the  fatal  sledge.  Christ,  they 
sang  while  undressing  for  the  butcher,  would  soon  come  to 
rescue  Zion  and  to  make  war  on  Babylon  ;  would  set  up  his 
standard,  and  would  requite  his  foes  tenfold  for  all  the  evil 
which  had  been  inflicted  on  his  servants.  The  dying  words 
of  these  meu  were  noted  down ;  their  farewell  letters  were 
kept  as  treasures  ;  and  in  this  war,  with  the  help  of  some 
invention  and  exaggeration,  was  formed  a  copious  supple- 
ment to  the  Marian  Marty rology.  A  few  cases  deserve  es- 
pecial mention.  Abraham  Holmes,  a  letired  officer  of  the 
Parliamentary  army,  and  one  of  those  zealots  who  would 
own  no  king  but  King  Jesus,  had  been  taken  at  Sedgemoor. 
His  arm  had  been  frightfully  mangled  and  shattered  in  bat- 
tle ;  and  as  no  surgeon  was  at  hand,  the  stout  old  soldier  am- 
putated it  himself.  He  was  carried  up  to  London  and  exam- 
ined by  the  king,  in  council,  but  would  make  no  submission. 
'  I  am  an  aged  man,'  he  said,'  'and  what  remains  to  me  of 
life  is  not  worth  a  falsehood  or  a  baseness.  I  have  always 
been  a  Republican  ;  and  I  am  so  still.'  He  was  sent  back 
to  the  West  and  hanged.  The  people  remarked,  with  awe 
and  wonder,  that  the  beasts  which  were  to  drag  him  to  the 
gallows  became  restive  and  went  back.  Holmes,  himself, 
doubted  not  that  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  as  in  the  old  time, 
stood  in  the  way,  sword  in  hand,  invisible  to  human  eyes, 
but  visible  to  the  inferior  animals.  'Stop,  gentlemen,'  he 
cried,  '  let  me  go  on  foot ;  there  is  more  in  this  than  you 
think.  Remember  how  the  ass  saw  Him  whom  the  Prophet 
could  not  see.'  He  walked  manfully  to  the  gallows,  har- 
angued the  people  with  a  smile,  prayed  fervently  that  God 
would  hasten  the  downfall  of  Antichrist  and  the  deliverance 
of  England,  and  went  up  the  ladder  with  an  apology  for 


52  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

mounting  so  awkwardly.      '  You  see,'    he  said,   '  I   have  hut 
one  arm.'  ' 

John  Milton  Maekie,  an  American  author,  was  horn  in 
Wareham  in  1813.  He  was  graduated  in  1832  at  Brown 
University,  where  he  was  tutor  from  1834  to  1838.  In 
1845  he  published  a  "Life  of  Godfrey  William  von  Leih- 
uitz,"  a  "Life  of  Samuel  Gorton."  In  18-iS  appeared  his 
"Cosas  dc  Espana,  or  Going  to  Madrid  via  Barcelona." 
Mr.  Maekie  has  heen  known  as  a  contributor  to  the  "North 
American  Review"  of  a  number  of  articles  on  various  sub- 
jeets,  principally  on  German  literature  and  history.  He 
has  also  written  a  "Life  of  Schamyl,  the  Circassian  Chief," 
and  "Life  of  Tai-Ping-Wang,  Chief  of  the  Chinese  Insur- 
rection." Mr.  Maekie  has  been  residing  for  many  years  in 
Great  Barrington,  Mass.,  and  has  been  as  successful  in  agri- 
cultural pursuits  as  he  was  formerly  in  literary. 

Ebenezer  Burgess,  D.  D.,  was  born  in  Wareham,  April 
1,  1790.  He  graduated  at  Brown  University,  in  1801',  with 
a  distinguished  rank  as  a  -scholar.  After  graduating  at 
Brown,  he  became  a  tutor  in  that  college,  and  subsequently 
a  Professor  in  the  college  at  Middlebury,  Vt.  In  connec- 
tion with  Samuel  J.  Mills,  one  of  the  great  founders  and 
originators *of  American  Missions,  he  sailed  on  November 
16,  1817,  for  Africa,  under  the  auspices  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society  ;  became  owe  of  the  founders  of  the 
colony  at  Liberia,  and  was  invited  to  become  its  Superin- 
tendent. He  visited  England  both  going  and  returning, 
and  was  presented  to  Macau  lay,  father  of  the  eminent 
statesman  and  historian,  and  was  cordially  received  by  Wil- 
berforce,  Lord  Bathurst  and  Lord  Gambier,  who  expressed 
deep  interest  for  the  African  enterprise.  On  his  homeward 
voyage,  he  buried  at  sea  the  heavenly  minded  Mills,  and  ar- 
rived alone  in  his  native  land,  Oct.  22,  1818.  Some  years 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  53 

after  this  he  married  the  daughter  of  Lieut.  Gov.  William 
Phillips.  After  his  settlement  in  Dedham,  Mass.,  he  was 
invited  to  take  the  presidency  of  the  Middlebury  College, 
Vt.,  but  declined.  On  the  30th  of  July,  1820,  he  preached 
for  the  first  time  in  Dedham,  and  on  March  13th,  1821,  was 
ordained  pastor  of  the  church,  with  which  he  remained  con- 
nected tor  forty  years.  His  decease  occurred  Dec.  5,  1870. 
Weeping  throngs  dismissed  him:  to  Heaven  with  their  bene- 
diction. 

Alexander  Bourne  was  born  in  Wareham,  Sept.  11,  1786. 
He  emigrated  to  Marietta,  Ohio,  in  1810,  where  he  found 
employment  for  a  while  in  the  office  of  Judge  Paul  Fearing, 
a  native  of  this  place,,  for  whom  the  town  of  Fearing, 
Washington  county,  Ohio,  was  named.  His  work  here  was 
surveying  and  drawing.  Judge  Fearing  kindly  loaned  him 
a  fine  case  of  drawing  instruments  that  once  belonged  to 
the  celebrated  Blenncrhassett.-  Soon  after  this,  the  Au- 
ditor of  the  State  employed  him  in  his  office,  and  pro- 
nounced him  the  best  map-maker  in  the  country.  In  1811 
he  was  employed  by  Gen.  Duncan  McArthar  to  copy  the 
entries  and  surveys  of  the  Virginia  military  bounty  lands  in 
Ohio.  In  the  war  of  1812,  though  without  any  military  ex- 
perience, he  served  as  Adjutant,  Judge  Advocate,  and  for  a 
short  time  as  Colonel,  by  appointment  of  Governor  Meigs. 
In  the  battle  of  Fort  Meigs,  one  of  the  most  sanguinary  of 
the  entire  war,  he  greatly  distinguished  himself  by  his  per- 
sonal bravery.  He  was  brave  even  to  recklessness,  and  at 
one  time  during  the  battle  Gen.  Harrison  cursed  him  fear- 
fully for  exposing  himself  so  much  to  the  fire  of  the  enemy. 
In  Gen.  Harrison's  dispatches  to  the  government,  although 
there  were  fifty  officers  in  the  garrison  that  outranked  him, 
the  name  of  Alexander  Bourne  is  the  fourteenth  mentioned 
for  bravery  and  good  conduct.  In  1814  he  was  appointed 


54  '  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

aid-de-camp  to  Gov.  Worthington ;  in  1815,  Adjutant- 
General  of  the  State  of  Ohio  ;  and  also  to  act  as  Inspector- 
General.  In  1816  he  married  Helen  Mar,  daughter  of  Gen. 
Duncan  McArthur,  who  succeeded  Gen.  Harrison  in  the  com- 
mand of  the  Northwestern  army,  and  was  subsequently  Gov- 
ernor of  Ohio.  Soon  after  this,  he  was  appointed  by  Gov. 
Worthington,  on  the  part  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  to  settle  the 
account  of  public  arms  with  the  government  of  the  United 
States.  In  1818,  during  the  recess  of  Congress,  he  was  ap- 
pointed by  President  Munroe,  Receiver  of  Public  Money 
for  the  State  of  Ohio,  and  the  appointment  was  subse- 
quently confirmed  by  the  Senate.  During  this  year  he 
wrote  his  first  communication  to  Sillimari's  Journal  in  Rela- 
tion to  the  Origin  of  the  Prairies  and  Barrens  of  the  West- 
ern Country ;  and  subsequently  during  life,  was  an  occa- 
sional contributor  to  our  leading  scientific  journals.  Some 
of  these  articles  were,  republished  in  London.  In  1827,  he 
was  appointed  by  Gov.  Trimble,  Commissioner  of  the  Ohio 
Canals — the  vacancy  being  caused  by  the  death  of  Gov. 
Worthington.  In  1827,  he  was  dismissed  from  the  office  of 
Receiver  of  Public  Money  for  the  State — an  office  he  had 
held  for  nine  years,  by  President  Jackson,  because  he  pre- 
ferred John  Quincy  Adams  for  President  :  and  would  not 
change  his  flag  to  save  his  office.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Historical  and  Philosophical  Society  of  Ohio,  a  correspond- 
ing member  of  the  Western  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 
at  Cincinnati,  an  honorary  member  of  the  Natural  History 
Society  of  the  Ohio  University,  and  a  corresponding  mem- 
ber of  the  National  Institutes  at  Washington,  District  of 
Columbia.  What  a  record  for  a  man,  who  graduated  at  a 
district  school  in  his  native  town  in  1804,  when  district 
schools  were  held  only  three  months  in  a  year  !  The  even- 
ing of  his  life  was  spent  not  far  from  the  spot  where  he  was 
born,  and  it  was  my  privilege  to  be  with  him  during  the  last 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  55 

night  ho  spent  on  earth.  He  passed  away  peacefully,  hope- 
fully and  trustingly,  August  5,  1849.  His  manuscripts, 
which  have  never  been  published  and  were  not  designed  for 
publication,  show  him  to  have  been  a  brave  soldier,  a  pro- 
found philosopher,  a  cultured  scholar,  an  astute  theologian, 
and  a  devout  Christian. 

Zephauiah  Swift  was  born  in  Wareham,  February,  1759  5 
died  in  Warren,  Ohio,  Oct.  27,  1823.  He  was  a  graduate 
at  Yale  College  in  1778,  and  established  himself  in  the  prac- 
tice of  the  law  at  Windham,  Conn.  ;  was  a  member  of  Con- 
gress from  1793  to  1796;  was  Secretary  of  the  Mission  to 
France  in  1800;  and  in  1801  he  was  elected  a  Judge,  and 
from  1806  to  1819,  was  Chief  Justice  of  the  State  of  Con- 
necticut. He  published  a  "Digest  of  the  Law  of  Evi- 
dence," and  a  "Treatise  on  Bills  of  Exchange,"  in  1810; 
and  a  "  Digest  of  the  Laws  of  Connecticut,"  2  vols.,  1823. 
In  the  celebrated  Bishop  case  recently  tried  in  Norwich, 
Conn.,  Judge  Culver  in  quoting  an  opinion  from  him,  styled 
him  "  Connecticut's  ablest  jurist,  sixty  years  ago."  A  mas- 
ter of  jurisprudence  and  busy  in  the  courts,  he  had  a  hand 
and  a  heart  for  every  grand  moral  enterprise.  And  that 
glorious  old  pulpit  Titan,  Lymau  Beecher,  in  the  early  da}'s 
of  the  Temperance  Reform,  thanked  God  and  took  courage 
when  Judge  Swift,  Dr.  Dwight  and  Hon.  Tappan  Reeve 
came  to  his  aid ;  and  he  soon  after  delivered  a  series  of  tem- 
perance sermons  that  were  shots  heard  around  the  world. 

Thomas  Burgess  was  born  in  Wareham,  Nov.  29,  1778, 
died  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  May  18,  1856.  He  was  distin- 
guished through  life  by  scrupulous  integrity,  by  habits  of 
great  industry,  and  by  the  conscientious  discharge  of  every 
trust,  as  well  as  by  eminent  sagacity  and  prudence,  merited 
and  acquired  the  confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens,  in  a  meas- 


56  ROCHESTER'S    HI-CENTENNIAL. 

ure  which  is  accorded  only  to  the  most  blameless.  Hi* 
counsel  was  sought  with  a  peculiar  reliance  on  its  value  ; 
and  ihe  weightiest  affairs  and  the  most  delicate  duties  were 
intrusted  to  him  without  apprehension.  A  Judge  of  the 
Municipal  Court  of  Providence,  an  office  which  he  held  from 
the  organization  of  the  city  government  till  within  a  few 
years  of  his  death,  lie  presided  over  the  distribution  of  the 
estates  of  that  large  and  wealthy  community,  with  more 
than  satisfaction  to  those  whose  interests  demanded  an  exact 
and  watchful  guardian.  He  was  also  Judge  of  tlie  Common 
Pleas  till  a  new  organization  of  the  Courts  superseded  thai 
office,  which  had  never  been  in  wiser  or  purer  hands.  His 
professional  practice,  with  his  other  undertakings,  secured 
to  him,  under  the  blessing  of  God, .a  prosperous  position; 
and  he  was  able  and  ready  to  lend  cheerful  and  considerate 
assistance  to  those  who  needed  his  kindness,  and  to  bear 
his  part  in  works  of  public  beneficence.  The  honorable 
profession  of  the  law  has  seldom  furnished  a  worthier  ex- 
ample of  the  Christian  virtues-,  than  his  character  displayed 
from  youth  to  age — uprightness,  fidelity,  discretion,  dili- 
gence and  the  fear  of  God.  His  son,  Thomas  Mackie  Bur- 
gess, was  Mayor  of  the  city  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  for  ten 
successive  years,  and  his  sons,  George  and  Alexander,  be- 
came Bishops  in  the  Episcopal  church. 

Tristam  Burgess,  the  "Bald  Eagle  of  the  Xorth,"  was 
born  in  Rochester,  Feb.  26,  1770 ;  died  Oct.  13,  1853.  He 
graduated  at  Brown  University  in  1796,  with  the  first  hon- 
ors of  his  class.  He  studied  law  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  and 
was  admitted  to  practice  there  in  1799.  Soon  after  his  ad- 
mission to  the  bar,  while  pleading  a  case  in  one  of  the 
smaller  courts,  being  severe  and  personal  in  his  remarks, 
he  was  interrupted  by  the  judge,  who  asked  him  if  he  knew 
where  he  was  and  to  whom  he  was  talking.  "O,  yes,"  said 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIALI.  57 

Mr.  Burgess,  "  I  am  in  an  inferior  court,  addressing  an  in- 
ferior judge  in  the  inferior  State  of  Rhode  Island."  In 
1815,  he  was  made  Chief  Justice  of  the  State.  In  1825, 
he  was  elected  to  Congress.  He 'took  his  seat  in  the  CJ.  S. 
House  of  Representatives  in  December  of  that  year,  and  in 
a  few  days  offered  an  anti-slavery  petition  from  Salem,  in 
this  State.  At  once,  the  sharp,  piercing  voice  of  John 
Randolph  was  heard  :  "  Mr.  Speaker,  I  understand  that  the 
petition  of  the  gentleman  is  from  Salem,  and  I  move  that  it 
be  referred  to  the  committee  of  the  whole  on  the  state  of 
the  Union."  Mr.  Burgess  sprang  to  his  feet  and  cried,  im- 
itating Mr.  Randolph's  peculiar  voice  exactly  :  "  Mr. 
Speaker,  and  I  move  that  the  gentleman  from  Roanoke  be 
referred  to  the  same  committee." 

'•  When  Greek  meets  Greek,  then  comes  the  tug  of  war." 
Ill  a  contest  with  the  distinguished  Representative  from 
South  Carolina,  he  went  on  to  say  that  Mr.  McDuffie  had 
not  adopted  the  style  of  speaking  common  to  scholars  and 
gentlemen.  The  following  ma.y  be  taken  as  a  sample  of  his 
language  in  reply:  "It  would  (and  the  gentleman  cer- 
tainly knows  it)  be  very  unbecoming  in  me  to  say  what 
what  might  very  appropriately  be  said  of  him.  The  gentle- 
man seems  to  claim  the  whole  right  to  himself.  Few  men 
would,  I  believe,  pirate  upon  his  property.  The  fee  simple 
of  the  honorable  gentleman  in  his  principles,  opinions  and 
thoughts,  together  with  his  own  manner  of  expressing  them, 
will  never  be  feloniously  invaded  by  any  person  of  sound 
mind,  and  having  the  fear  of  God  before  his  eyes.  He  says 
what  he  is,  he  is  himself.  Why,  sir,  I  do  not  question 
this.  He  is  himself,  and  neither  he  nor  any  other  person 
will  ever  mistake  him  for  anybody  else.  The  honorable 
gentleman  need  not  fear  being  lost  in  the  ordinary  samples 
of  existence.  His  individuality  is  secure.  It  is  very  prob- 
able there  is  but  one  specimen  in  the  whole  mass  of  moral, 

D2 


58  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

intellectual  and  physical  being.  With  what  other  thing  can 
he  be  confounded?  Men  would  as  soon  mistake  the  fiery 
element,  or  the  augry  action  and  tiery  visage  of  a  wildcat, 
for  the  quiet  blood  and  peaceful  countenance  of  the  lamb." 

The  most  famous  encounter  between  Mr.  Burgess  and  Mr. 
Randolph  occurred  during  a  debate  on  the  tariff.  Mr.  Bur- 
gess having  remarked,  in  the  course  of  his  speech,  that  there 
was  a  disposition  among  some  gentlemen  to  support  British 
interests  in  preference  to  American,  Mr.  Randolph  rose  and 
interrupted  him,  saying:  "This  hatred  of  aliens,  sir,  is  the 
undecayed  spirit  which  called  forth  the  proposition  to  enact 
the  alien  and  sedition  law.  I  advise  the  gentleman  from 
Rhode  Island  to  move  a  re-enactment  of  those  laws,  to  pre- 
vent the  impudent  foreigner  from  rivalling  the  American 
seller.  New  England — what  is  she?  Sir,  do  you  remem- 
ber that  appropriate  exclamation,  "  Delenda  est  Cathargo?" 
Mr.  Burgess  replied  as  follows :  "  Does  the  gentleman 
mean  to  say,  sir,  New  England  must  be  destroyed?  If  so, 
I  will  remind  him  that  the  fall  of  Carthage  was  the  precur- 
sor of  the  fall  of  Rome.  Permit  me  to  suggest  to  him  to 
carry  out  the  parallel.  Further,  sir,  I  wish  it  to  be  dis- 
tinctly understood  that  I  am  not  bound  by  any  rule  to  argue 
against  Bedlam ;  but  where  I  see  anything  rational  in  the 
hallucinations  of  the  gentleman,  I  will  answer  them."  At 
the  command  of  the  speaker,  he  took  his  seat,  remarking  as 
he  did  so,  "Perhaps  it  is  better,  sir,  that  I  should  not  go 
on."  The  next  day  he  resumed  his  speech  on  the  subject, 
and  referred  to  Mr.  Randolph  as  a  spirit  which  exclaims  at 
every  rising  sun  :  "  Hodie  !  Hodie  !  Carthago  Delenda  ! 
To-day !  to-day !  let  New  England  be  destroyed !"  Sir, 
Divine  Providence  takes  care  of  its  own  universe.  Moral 
monsters  cannot  propagate.  Impotent  of  everything  but 
malevolence  ot  purpose,  they  can  no  otherwise  multiply 
miseries  than  by  blaspheming  all  that  is  pure,  prosperous 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNTIAL.  59 

nncl  happy.  Could  demon  propagate  demon,  the  universe 
might  become  a  Pandemonium  ;  but  I  rejoice  that  the  Father 
of  Lies  can  never  become  the  Father  of  Liars.  One  adver- 
sary of  God  and  man  is  enough  for  one  universe.  Too 
much  !  Oh,  l«ow  much  to  much,  for  one  nation  ! 

Mr.  McDuffie,  by  the  part  he  took  in  this  discussion, 
came  in  also  for  a  large  share  of  Mr.  Burgess's  notice,  who 
introduced  one  of  his  speeches  by  saying  that  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  sea  sport  only  in  foul  weather,  and  when  "  the 
winds  and  waters  begin  to  hold  controversy,"  the  whole 
population  of  the  mighty  realm  is  awake  and  in  motion. 
"'Not  merely  the  nimble  dolphin  gives  his  bright  eye  and 
dazzling  side  to  the  sunshine,  but  the  black,  uncouth  por- 
poise breaks  above  the  waters,  and  flounces  and  spouts  and 
goes  down  again.  The  foul  cormorant,  stretching  his  long, 
lean  wings,  soars  and  sinks,  piping  shrill  notes  to  the  rest- 
less waves.  The  h aglet  and  cutwater  spring  into  flight,  and 
dashing  over  the  white  crest  of  the  lofty  billows,  scream 
their  half  counter  to  the  deep  bass  of  the  mighty  ocean." 
These  were  personal  references,  called  out  as  he  went  on  to 
say  b}T  the  "wailing  menaces,  calumnies  and  all  the  demon- 
strations of  outrageous  excitement  exhibited  on  that  floor, 
by  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  (Mr.  Randolph),  the  gen- 
tleman from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  McDuffie),  and  the  gen- 
tleman from  New  York  (Mr.  Cambreleng)."  He  said  he 
would  defend  New  England,  though  he  would  not  take  part 
in  the  contest  of  the  two  parties,  each  of  which  had  been 
assailing  her,  "for  when  cat  and  cat  fly  at  each  other, 
though  the  fur  and  skin  may  suffer,  yet  what  prudent  boy 
will  risk  either  hands  or  eyes  in  parting  the  combatants, 
in  any  attempt  to  interrupt  the  kitchen-yard  melody  of  their 
courtship?" 

At  the  centennial  celebration  of  Brown  University,  Sept. 
6,  1864,  the  Hon.  John  H.  Clifford,  in  the  course  of  an  elo- 


60  ROCHESTER'S   BI-CENTENNIAL. 

quent  address,  said,  "  The  brilliant  Burgess,  our  Professor 
of  Rhetoric  and  Belles  Lettres,  whose  fume  is  bounded  by 
no  local  limits,  be-fore  whose  scathing  retort  in  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  the  Ishmaelite  of  Virginia  statesman, 
Randolph  of  Roanoke,  for  the  first  time  quailed  and  was  for- 
ever silenced." 

Perhaps,  Mr.  President,  the  Phillipics  of  Demosthenes 
may  have  produced  a  greater  effect  upon  his  auditors,  but 
from  the  time  when  Chatham's  thunder  rolled  through  the 
corridors  of  the  British  House  of  Commons  until  now  for 
scorching  invective  that  like  lightning  burns  when  it  strikes, 
Tristam  Burgess  stands  peerless. 

And  don't  delude  yourself  with  the  idea  that  sarcasm  was 
hfe  only  weapon.  His  biographer  says  "the  richness  of 
his  classical  and  scriptural  allusions  was  beyond  that  of  his 
compeers.  The  acuteness  of  his  logic  was  felt  and  admitted 
by  all — even  his  opponents.  The  brilliancy  of  his  scholar- 
ship, the  beauty  of  his  allusions,  his  exquisite  ornamenta- 
tion of  his  more  finished  efforts ;  th^se  are  points  that  give 
him  a  far  higher  title  to  remembrance  than  the  deadly 
thrusts  of  his  satire.'' 

A  few  weeks  ago,  on  a  bright  June  morning,  I  visited  the 
birth  place  of  this  remarkable  man.  The  old  house  at 
whose  hearthstone,  he  early  listened  to  the  tales  of  the  Revo- 
lution from  the  lips  of  his  honored  sire  was  gone,  replaced 
by  one  more  modern.  But  the  old  locust  trees  under  which 
he  played,  a  few  apple  trees  of  a  once  large  orchard,  where 
he  plucked  fruit ;  the  fields  where  he  assisted  his  father  in 
the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and  the  old  well  where  his  thirst 
was  quenched  as  he  came  from  the  fields  and  meadows, 
were  still  there.  I  drank  from  the  old  oaken  bucket,  some 
of  the  clear  refreshing  water,  and  imagined  I  felt  a  little 
more  sarcastic  for  the  draught.  The  grass  was  waving  in 
the  gentle  wind — nearly  ready  tor  the  mower's  scythe — the 


ROCHESTER'S   BI-CENTENNIAL.  61 

birds  were  singing  in  the  branches,  and  it  seemed  hardly 
possible  that  his  great  fiery  soul  received  its  first  inspiration 
and  early  trainings  amid  such  quiet  surroundings.  How 
little  we  know  where  the  giants  will  spring  from  !  VVho 
among  the  men  that  saw  the  boy  Napoleon,  rowing  in  his 
skiff  boat  along  the  shores  ot  Corsica,  predicted  that  the 
better  part  of  the  civilized  world  would  one  day  be  under 
his  subjection?  Who  predicted  that  the  "  Mill  boy  of  the 
Slashes,"  would  hold  senates  in  awe?  who  told  us  twenty 
years  ago,  that  the  Tanner  of  Galena  would  become  United 
Htates  Grant  and  command  the  obeisance  and  homage  of 
the  nations  ? 

Among  our  adopted  sons  we  may  mention  the  following  : 

Nathan  Willis  was  born  in  West  Bridgewater,  in  1763. 
He  moved  to  Rochester  shortly  after  1789,  and  represented 
that  town  in  the  General  Court  in  1799  and  1800. 

He  was  also  Representative  of  Rochester  for  the  political 
year  1804—5.  He  was  a  Senator  of  PI}' mouth  County  for 
the  political  year  1805-6,  and  for  the  seven  ensuing  politi- 
cal years.  In  1814  or  1815  he  moved  to  'Pittsfield,  Mass. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Governor's  Council  for  the  politi- 
cal years  1824—5,  and  1825—6;  and  was  candidate  for  Lieu- 
tenant Governor  in  1832,  and  for  several  years  after.  He 
was  many  years  chairman  of  the  Selectmen  of  Pittsfield, 
and  was  one  of  the  Board  of  County  Commissioners  for 
Berkshire  County,  several  times.  He  represented  Pittsfield 
in  the  General  Court  in  the  years  1831  and  1832. 

One  of  the  leading  barristers  of  this  State  says,  "  Nathan 
Willis  was  one  of  the  ablest  men  ever  known." 

The  following  sketch  of  Dr,  Clark  is  taken  from  a  History 
of  Niagara  County,  N.  Y.,  published  in  1878  : 

"Simeon  Tucker  Clark,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  was  born  in  Can- 
ton, Norfolk  County,  Mass.,  October  10th,  1836.  In  1838, 
before  he  was  quite  two  years  old,  his  parents  returned  to 


62  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

Rochester,  Mass.,  the  place  of  their  former  residence,  and 
there  resided  until  1858.  He  is  a  son  of  Rev.  Nathan  Sears 
Clark,  his  mother's  maiden  name  having  been  Laura  Stevens 
Swift.  Dr.  Clark  graduated  as  M.  D.  at  the  Berkshire 
Medical  College  in  1860,  and  received  the  degree  of  A.  M. 
from  Genesee  College,  in  1866.  He  was  married  in  1857 
to  Ruth  Jennie  Mendall  of  Marion,  Plymouth  County,  Mas- 
sachusetts. In  1861  he  came  to  the  city  of  Lockport, 
where  he  has  since  resided,  actively  engaged  in  the  practice 
of  his  profession.  He  was  pension  examining  surgeon  for 
ten  years.  In  1872  he  was  elected  a  permanent  member-of 
the  New  York  State  Medical  Society,  and  in  1876,  at  the 
twenty-fifth  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science,  he  was  chosen  a  member  of 
that  society.  He  has  been  for  three  years  president  of  the 
Niagara  County  Medical  Society,  and  has  served  as  a  dele- 
gate to  the  American  Medical  Association. 

Dr.  Clark  is  corresponding  secretary  of  the  Jewett  Sci- 
entific Society,  and  is  recorded  in  the  Naturalist's  Directory 
as  a  conchologist.  He  has  been  especially  identified  with 
the  poetical  literature  of  the  past  twenty  years,  his  poems 
having  been  published  in  mary  of  the  best  magazines  and 
extensively  copied  in  the  newspapers,  while  his  Masonic 
poems  have  given  him  a  transatlantic  reputation,  and  his  re- 
ligious verse  has  found  a  permanent  place  in  several  popular 
collections. 

Having  obtained  an  enviable  reputation  in  his  profession, 
Dr.  Clark  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  successful  phy- 
sicians and  surgeons,  and  has  a  very  extensive  practice.  In 
questions  of  medical  jurisprudence  he  has  few  equals,  and 
his  opinions  on  questions  in  that  department  are  regarded 
as  the  very  highest  authority.  His  command  of  language 
and  the  ready,  clear  and  lucid  manner  in  which  he  gives  his 
opinions  as  a  witness  upon  the  stand,  give  to  his  testimony 


ROCHESTER'S   BI-CENTENNIAL.  63 

a  force  which  carries  great  weight  with  courts  and  jurors, 
and  produces  a  conviction  in  the  minds  of  all  that  hear  it 
that  he  is  not  only  learned  in  his  profession,  but  a  great 
scholar." 

Captain  John  Kendrick,  who  was  one  of  the  early  ex- 
plorers of  the  Northwestern  coast,  and  under  his  command, 
the  Columbia  river  was  discovered  and  the  American  flag 
first  carried  around  the  world.  On  old  maps,  his  voyage 
was  represented  by  a  line  across  the  Pacific  and  Southern 
oceans.  He  came  to  his  death  by  the  hand  of  savage  bar- 
barism, in  the  isles  of  the  Pacific.  The  house  where  he  so 
long  resided  in  Wareham  is  in  a  good  state  of  preserva- 
tion. 

We  have  furnished  for  the  professions,  in  addition  to 
those  already  named,  the  following  : 

Clergymen. — Elijah  Dexter,  Nathaniel  Cobb,  Homer  Bar- 
rows, Nathan  S.  Clark,  Wm.  H.  Cobb,  N.  Warren  Everett, 
Leonard  Luce,  John  G.  Gammons,  Asa  B.  Bessey,  Benja- 
min Swift,  Freeman  Ryder,  Jonathan  King,  Leander  Cobb, 
Philip  Crandon,  Samuel  Mead,  Oliver  E.  Bryant,  Asa  N. 
Bodfish,  Lemuel  K.  Washburn,  Matthias  Gammons,  George 
Pierce. 

Physicians  and  Surgeons. — John  Mackie,  Andruw 
Mackie,  Warren  Fearing,  Caleb  Briggs,  Joseph  Haskell, 
Henry  C.  Haskell,  George  King,  Roland  Hammond,  Eben- 
ezer  Swift,  Benjamin  Fearing,  Gideon  Barstow,  Clarence  S. 
Howes,  Isaac  B.  Cowen,  Herbert  Shurtleff,  Peter  Mackie, 
Elisha  Fearing,  William  Everett,  N.  Southworth,  Joseph 
H.  Haskell,  Theophilus  King,  Thomas  W.  Hammond,  Ezra 
Thompson,  Charles  Gibbs,  David  H.  Cannon,  2d,  Wood- 
bridge  R.  Howes,  Marshall  V.  Simmons,  Walton  N.  Ellis, 
W.  E.  Sparrow,  William  Southworth,  Joseph  Johnson, 
Benj.  F.  Wing,  Lindley  Murray  Cobb,  Benjamin  F.  Pope% 
James  Foster. 


<i4  KOCHESTEK'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

La wyet •*.-  -Walter  S.  Burgess  (a  nephew  of  Tristam  Bur- 
88,  :i  learned  counsellor  and  judge),  Rufus  Bacon,  Win. 
Bates,  John  W.  Hammond,  Charles  T.  Bouncy,  James  G. 
Sproat,  Henry  K.  Braley,  Scth  M.  Murdock,  George  B.  X. 
Holmes,  Thomas  Hammond,  George  Bonney,  Gerard  C. 
Tobey,  John  Eddy,  L.  LeBaron  Holmes,  Hollen  M.  Bars- 
tow,  Anselm  Bassett,  K/ra  Bassett,  Philip  Crapo,  Augustus 
Johnson. 

CONCLUSION. 

I  have  thus,  Mr.  President,  as  best  I  could,  traced  our 
history  in  the  past.  Here,  we  stand  today  where  our 
fathers  stood  200  years  ago.  The  same  heavens  are  above 
us;  the  same  ocean -washes  these  shores;  and  the  everlast- 
ing hills  are  here;  but  ail  else,  how  changed. 

Instead  of  the  dense  forest  we  look  out  upon  smiling  vil- 
lages. Instead  of  the  howl  of  the  wolf  and  the  yell  of  the 
savage,  we  hear  the  music  of  the  church  bell. 

Our  cars  are  daily  saluted  with  the  hum  of  machinery, 
and  our  sons  and  daughters  attend  the  seats  of  learning. 
Our  fathers  labored,  and  we  have  entered  into  their  labors. 
They  sowed  ;  we  are  reaping. 

Divine  Providence  has  permitted  us  to  live  in  one  of  the 
most  interesting  periods  of  the  world's  history.  It  is  the 
inventive  age-.  There  has  been  no  period,  since  the  world 
was  created,  in  which  so  many  important  inventions  tending 
to  the  benefit  of  mankind  have  been -made,  as  in  the  pres- 
ent. Some  of  the  grandest  conceptions  of  genius  have  been 
perfected. 

It  is  remarkable  how  the  mind  of  this  age  has  run  into 
M-it-ntitic  investigation,  and  what  achievements  it  has  ef- 
fected since  the  year  1800.  Before  that  time,  there  was  not 
a  steamboat  in  existence,  and  the  application  of  steam  to 
machinerv  was  unknown.  Fulton  launched  the  first  steam- 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  65 

boat  in  1807.  The  first  steamer  that  crossed  the  Atlantic 
ocean  was  the  "  Savannah,"  in  1818,  and  the  son  of  her 
commander,  Rev.  Daniel  M.  Rogers,  is  the  present  pastor 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  at  Cochesett  in  this 
county. 

In  1800,  there  was  not  a  single  railroad  in  the  world.  In 
1830,  the  first  locomotive  ever  made  in  the  United  States 
was  built  at  West  Point,  and  weighed  but  four  tons.  The 
electric  telegraph  had  its  beginning  in  1843.  Wonder  of 
wonders  !•  We  take  up  the  paper  of  to-day  and  read  what 
transpired  yesterday  in  London  and  Calcutta. 

Electrotyping  has  been  in  use  but  a  veiy  few  years. 
Hoe's  printing  press,  capable  of  printing  10,000  copies  an 
hour,  is  a  recent  invention.  Daguerre  communicated  to  the 
world  his  beautiful  invention  in  1839.  Gas,  gun  cotton, 
chloroform  have  been  but  recently  used.  Torpedoes  have 
been  brought  to  such  a  state  of  perfection,  that  they  will 
soon  revolutionize  the  whole  system  of  naval  warfare.  No 
more  swimming  Golgothas,  with  their  scuppers  clogged 
with  human  gore.  And  what  marvellous  improvement  in 
firearms  !  What  would  one  of  the  old  Continentals,  that 
used  to  stop  and  pick  his  flint  with  his  jack-knife  in  action, 
say  of  a  gun  that  could  be  discharged  26  times  without  re- 
loading? What  would  Gen.  Knox  think  of  a  cannon  that 
weighed  100  tons,  and  sent  with  precision  huge  masses  of 
iron  a  fabulous  distance?  We  stand  amazed  ourselves  at 
the  new  French  arm,  that  throws  a  respectable  shower  of 
balls  within  the  limits  of  a  minute. 

The  improvements  in  agricultural  implements  have  been 
such,  that  it  is  doubtful  if  we  could  have  carried  on  the  late 
civil  war  without  them. 

The  heavens  above,  the  earth  beneath,  and  the  waters  un- 
der the   earth,  have  been   made   subjects  of  investigation, 
until  their  relations,  affinities  and  properties  have  been,  to  a  ' 
E 


66  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

large  extent,  discovered  and  applied  to  some  practical  pur- 
pose. 

We  now  stand  gazing  with  rapture  at  the  phonograph,  tel- 
ephone and  electric  light;  and  the  inquiry  is,  What  next? 

Perhaps  it  will  be  some  aerial  vehicle,  that  will  transport 
us  through  the  heavens  in  safety,  at  a  speed  far  exceeding 
steamboat  or  railroad. 

If  that  comes  to  pass  in  our  day,  sir,  we  will  test  the  ac- 
curacy of  the  telescope  by  personal  observations,  and  see  if 
it  has  told  us  the  truth  in  regard  to  the  distant  planets,  visit 
the  Ursa  Major,  the  moons  of  Jupiter,  the  orbs  of  Uranus 
and  Neptune,  enjoy  the  sweet  influences  of  Pleiades,  exam- 
ine the  bands  of  Orion  and  the  rings  of  Saturn,  go  down 
into  the  Southern  hemisphere  and  behold  the  great  Southern 
Cross  and  Magellan  Clouds,  and  conclude  the  voyage  by  a 
search  for  the  lost  Pleiad. 

What  would  the  immortal  fourteen  say,  if  they  could 
come  up  from  their  graves  to-day,  headed  as  of  yore  by 
Samuel  Arnold,  and  standing  on  "Ministers'  Hock"  (hav- 
ing listened  to  the  recital  of  the  last  five  minutes)  be  told 
that  "the  Briareau  hands  or  arms  of  genius  can  do  the  work 
of  the  world,  whether  in  the  shop  or  in  the  mill,  on  the  land 
or  on  the  sea,  from  polishing  a  needle  to  forging  the  shaft 
of  a  steamship  ;  from  turning  a  gimlet  to  tunneling  a  moun- 
tain ;  from  cutting  a  thread  to  reaping  a  prairie ;  from  meas- 
uring a  field  to  measuring  the  heavens?" 

In  1813,  the  first  band  of  foreign  missionaries  left  our 
shores. 

"  When  they  first  the  work  began. 

Small  and  feeble  was  ihe  day; 
Now  the  word  doth  swiftly  run, 
Now  it  wins  its  widening  way. 
More  and  more  it  spreads  and  grows, 

Ever  mighty  to  prevail ; 
Sin's  stronghold  it  now  o'erthrows. 
Shakes  the  trembling  gates  of  hell," 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  67 

This  is  no  time  to  enlarge  upon  missionarj'  success,  but 
in  passing,  I  may  mention  one  individual  instance.  It  is 
said  of  Geddes,  the  missionary  in  the  New  Hebrides,  when 
he  came  in  1846,  there  was  not  a  Christian  ;  when  he  left  in 
1872,  there  was  not  a  heathen. 

We  have  witnessed  in  our  day  the  death  of  Slavery. 
Privileged  men  !  Our  fathers  died  without  the  sight.  The 
prophecy  of  Henry  B.  Stanton,  made  in  the  days  of  my 
boyhood,  has  been  fulfilled:  "When  the  sun  in  its  broad 
circuit  through  the  heavens,  neither  rises  upon  a  master  nor 
sets  upon  a  slave."  It  is  one  of  those  events  that  will  for- 
ever loom  up  in  the  history  of  the  ages.  It  caused  wailing 
in  Pandemonium,  but  it  drew  such  music  from  the  harpsi- 
chords of  heaven,  that  "  archangels  stood  uncovered  of  their 
golden  crowns"  to  listen. 

In  1845,  Charles  Sumner,  speaking  of  it  in  prospective, 
said:  "Then  there  shall  be  a  victory,  in  comparison  with 
which  that  of  Bunker  Hill  shall  be  as  a  farthing  caudle 
held  up  to  the  sun.  The  victory  shall  need  no  monument 
of  stone.  It  shall  be  written  on  the  grateful  hearts  of  un- 
counted multitudes  that  shall  proclaim  it  to  the  latest  gen- 
eration. It  shall  be  one  of  the  famed  landmarks  of  civiliza- 
tion;  nay,  more,  it  shall  be  one  of  the  links  in  the  golden 
chain  by  which  humanity  shall  connect  itself  with  the  throne 
of  God." 

And  we  may  add  in  this  connection,  the  triumphant  lan- 
guage of  Wendell  Phillips,  uttered  over  the  lifeless  remains 
of  his  friend  Garrison:  "Whether  one  flag  or  two  rules 
this  continent  in  time  to  come,  one  thing  is  settled — it  can 
never  henceforth  be  trodden  by  a  slave  !" 

There  is  another  event,  near  at  hand,  that  will  thrill  the 
nation  ;  and  some  of  us  will  witness  it,  ere  we  go  down  to 
the  grave — when  every  man,  white  or  black,  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  this  country,  will  march  up  to  the 


68  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENXIAL. 

ballot   box  and   exorcise  the  God  given  right  of  franchise 
without  the  fear  of  molestation. 

Behold  the  progress  of  education  !  Once  it  was  three 
months  in  a  year  at  a  district  school  ;  now  it  is  all  the  year 
at.  a  primary,  intermediate  or  high  school.  And  then  we 
have  our  normal  and  development  schools  and  our  techni- 
cal Institutes.  When  I  contrast  the  educational  facilities  of 
the  present  with  those  of  my  early  childhood,  the  figure  of 
Horace  Mann  rises  before  me,  and  I  never  ascend  the  steps 
of  the  State  House  without  feeling  like  taking  off  my  hat 
to  the  bronze  statue  of  this  great  lover  of  the  rising  race. 

Ah,  ye  sons  and  daughters  of  Sippican,  the  debt  ye  owe 
him  can  never  be  repaid  !  Give  his  name  to  your  children, 
and  as  they  advance  in  years,  tell  them  of  his  self-denial— 
of  his  sacrifices— that  he  abridged  his  mortal  existence  a 
whole  decade  by  almost  superhuman  labors  for  the  youth  of 
our  country.  Rehearse  the  story  from  father  to  son,  from 
mother  to  daughter,  until  the  last  of  your  line  goes  up  to 
greet  him  in  some  sphere  of  the  heavens,  made  luminous  by 
the  presence  of  assembled  conquerors. 

If  in  the  years  to  come,  there  does  not  arise  from  this  soil 
some  Swift  to  sit  peerless  on  the  Bench  ;  some  Burgess  to 
command  admiration  in  the  Pulpit;  some  "-Bald  Eagle"  to 
scale  the  heights  and  scream  defiance  at  the  crows  and  hawks 
beneath  ;  it  will  not  be  for  lack  of  facilities,  such  as  no  pre- 
ceding generation  has  enjoyed. 

Now  cast  your  eyes  over  the  land  and  view  the  palaces 
that  benevolence  has  erected  for  the  unfortunate,  the  indi- 
gent, the  blind,  the  deaf  and  dumb,  the  idiotic  and  the  in- 
sane !  One  beautiful  autumnal  afternoon,  while  gliding  on 
the  waters  of  New  York  harbor,  I  espied  near  at  hand  a 
charming  island  ;  one  that  would  have  suited  the  fancy  of 
Blennerhassett.  "  What  building  is  that?"  said  I  to  a  stran- 
ger standing  at  my  side,  pointing  to  a  huge  mass  of  granite 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CEXTENNIAL,  69 

several  stories  high.  "That,"  said  he,  "  is  a  hospital."  A 
little  further  on  appeared  another  of  the  same  dimensions. 
"That,"  said  lie,  "is  for  the  indigent  and  infirm."  Still 
further  on,  rose  another  of  mammoth  proportions.  "That," 
continued  the  stranger,  "  is  for  the  insane."  As  the  sun 
went  down  behind  the  western  hills,  I  lingered  upon  the 
deck  of  the  steamer,  gazing  back  wistfully  at  these  monu- 
ments of  American  philanthropy  I  felt  proud  of  my  coun- 
try, and  uttered  unconsciously  these  familiar  lines  : 

"  Breathes  there  a  inan  with  soul  so  dead, 
Who  never  to  himself  halh  said. 
T!ii.-  is  my  own.  my  native  land?" 

Was  there  ever  such  u  country?  No  monarchial  throne 
presses  these  States  together ;  no  iron  chain  of  despotic 
power  encircles  them  ;  they  live  and  stand  upon  a  govern- 
ment popular  in  its  form,  representative  in  its  character, 
founded  upon  principles  of  equality,  and  calculated,  we 
hope,  to  last  forever.  Its  daily  respiration  is  liberty  and 
patriotism ;  its  youthful  veins  are  full  of  enterprise,  cour- 
age and  honorable  love  of  glory  and  renown.  This  Repub- 
lic now  extends,  with  a  vast  breadth,  across  the  whole  con- 
tinent. 

The  two  great  seas  of  the  world  wash  the  one  and  the 
other  shore.  We  realize  on  a  mighty  scale,  the  beautiful 
description  of  the  ornamental  edging  of  the  buckler  of 
Achilles  : 

••  Now  the  broad  shield  complete  the  artist  crowned 
With  his  last  hand,  and  poured  the  ocean  round. 
In  living  silver  seemed  the  waves  to  roll. 
And  beat  the  buckler's  verge,  and  bound  the  whole." 

This  will  be  recognized  as  language  used  by  the  immortal 
Webster  on  an  important  occasion,  and  who  can  think  of 
the  greatness  or  glory  of  our  country  without  thinking  of 


70  ROCHESTER'S   BI-CEXTEXXIAL. 

him.  How  he  loved  to  hunt  and  fish  in  our  woods  and 
waters  !  spending  days  and  weeks  among  us.  The  last  time 
he  was  here,  the  year  before  he  died,  he  was  heard  to  ex- 
claim, "  Buzzard's  Bay  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  bays  in 
the  world."  As  the  years  roll  by,  I  often  think  how  little 
men  understood  him  in  the  days  of  compromise.  Sir,  I 
have  often  stood  in  awe  and  admiration  gazing  at  some  old 
giant  oak  of  the  forest,  swaying  its  huge  branches  in  the 
tempest,  as  if  struggling  to  feel  through  the  darkness  and 
let  the  sunlight  in.  And  thus  have  I  been  wont  to  look  on 
this  •Agamemnon — King  of  men. 

Never  did  there  devolve  on  any  generation  higher  trusts 
than  now  devolve  upon  us  for  the  preservation  of  the  bless- 
ings we  enjoy  and  the  transmission  of  them  to  posterity. 
Let  us  make  our  generation  one  of  the  purest  and  noblest 
that  ever  left  the  shores  of  time  to  scale  the  steeps  of  light 
and  enter  the  presence  of  the  eternal  King. 

But  the  hours  of  this  Summer  day  are  swiftly  passing, 
and  I  must  hasten,  knowing  your  anxiety  to  hear  from  other 
sons  of  Rochester,  and  from  the  distinguished  strangers  who 
have  kindly  favored  us  with  their  presence  to-day.  When 
two  hundred  years  more  have  rolled  away  and  our  descend- 
ants assemble  here  for-  a  similar  celebration,  the  orator  of 
the  day  wrill  have  ample  inspiration.  It  is  possible  that  the 
great  purposes  of  Jehovah  concerning  this  little  planet  will 
then  have  been  accomplished.  The  tread  of  hundreds  of 
millions  will  then  be  heard  on  this  continent.  The  vast 
areas  now  uncultured  will  bud  and  blossom  like  the  gardens 
of  the  Hesperides.  The  mighty  lakes  and  rivers  will  be 
covered  with  fleets  richly  laden  with  the  products  of  the 
soil.  The  uncounted  acres  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains 
will  be  covered  with  churches  and  seminaries.  Asylums  for 
earth's  suffering  poor  will  be  found  in  every  hamlet.  The 
gold  of  California  and  the  silver  of  Xevada  will  be  found  in 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  71 

the  vaults  of  beneficence,  and  the  philanthropies  of  America 
will  belt  the  world. 

The  sons  of  the  Roundhead  and  Cavalier  will  march  under 
one  flag,  side  by  side,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  like  an  army  of 
God's  noblemen,  inspired  by  the  same  spirit,  striving  to  out- 
vie each  other  in  every  Godlike  work. 

Art,  science  and  invention  will  have  exhausted  their  re- 
sources, and  the  priceless  product  used  for  the  aggrandize- 
ment of  the  races. 

The  Bible  will  be  read  and  be  preached  and  its  matchless 
teachings  practiced  on  every  continent,  island  and  strand. 
And  the  long  sought  period  of  which  Cowper  so  eloquently 
sang  seems  at  hand  : 

"The  dwellers  in  the  vales  and  on  the  rocks  shout  to  each  other; 
The  mountain  tops  from  distant  mountains  catch  the  flying  joy. 
Till  nation  after  nation  taught  the  strain, 
Earth  rolls  the  rapturous  hosanna  'round." 

This,  sir,  may  be  but  a  vision.  If  so,  there  will  be 
enough  in  the  conquests  and  triumphs  of  the  past  to  cause 
them  to  sing  and  exult  with  exceeding  great  joy. 

Standing  on  and  around  yon  consecrated  rock,  I  hear 
their  jubilant  song  !  How  familiar  the  words  !  They  have 
echoed  from  the  slopes  of  Gettysburg  down  through  the 
centuries  :  "The  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people 
and  for  the  people  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth." 

May  God,  in  his  infinite  mercy,  permit  us  to  look  down 
from  the  heights  of  eternity  upon  the  august  scene. 

DINNER. 

The  oration  concluded,  an  intermission  was  taken  for  the 
dinner,  which  consisted  of  roast  clams,  baked  fish,  corn,  po- 
tatoes, lobsters,  tripe,  bread,  tea,  coffee,  &c.,  &c.  One  hun- 
dred bushels  of  clams  constituted  the  main  portion  of  the 
bake. 


72  ROCHESTER'S  EI-CENTENNTAL. 


AFTER-DINNER  EXERCISES. 

About  3  o'clock,  r.  M.,  the  vast  multitudes  gathered  about 
the  stand  again  ;  and  the  distinguished  guests  resumed  their 
places.  After  music  by  the  band,  the  President  introduced 
the  toast-master,  Dr.  H.  C.  Yose  of  Marion,  Avho  conducted 
the  exercises  in  the  following  order  : 

SENTIMENTS    AND    RESPONSES. 

The  First  Sentiment — "  The  Commonwealth  of  Massachu- 
setts." Response  of  His  Honor  John  D.  Long  of  Hingham, 
Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  Commonwealth. 

Responding  for  the  Commonwealth,  I  bring  you  the  kind 
wishes  of  Gov.  Talbot  and  his  regrets  that,  called  yesterday 
out  of  the  Commonwealth,  he  is  unable  to  be  with  .you. 
But  whoever  mav  represent  her,  Massachusetts  is  always 
present  and  always  responsive  on  such  an  occasion  as  this, 
which  commemorates  the  200th  anniversary  of  the  birth  of 
one  of  her  oldest  daughter  towns — so  old  a  daughter,  in- 
deed, that  she  gathers  here  again  to-day  at  her  knee,  and  at 
her  table,  daughters  of  her  own — the  flourishing  and  thrifty 
towns  of  Marion,  Mattapoisctt  and  Wareham.  With  your 
stout  old  English  name  ;  with  your  soil  not  stolen  from  the 
Indians,  but  granted  by  King  Philip  \\ith  his  own  mark  at 
the  bottom  ol  the  deed  ;  with  your  history  running  back  to 
the  lifetime  of  some  of  the  Pilgrims  ;  with  the  same  blood 
flowing  in  your  veins  that  flowed  in  the  veins  of  the  found- 
ers of  New  England  civilization  ;  with  the  sacred  memories 
of  your  early  church  ;  with  the  long  line  of  generations  of 
men  who  by  their  devotion  to  education,  their  observance  of 
religious  worship,  their  business  thrift  and  bold  enterprise 
on  sea  and  land,  and  their  patriotism  and  loyalty  proved 
iu  every  crisis  of  the  State  or  nation,  have  honored 


ROCHESTER'S    BI-CENTENNIAL.  73 

the  record  of  your  existence;  with  all  these,  you  arc  ;> 
striking  type  of  that  most  significant  auxins:  the  foundation 
stones  on  which  Massachusetts  is  builded — her  towns.  For 
more  than  two  centuries  the  genius  of  Massachusetts  has 
been  in  her  towns.  In  them  have  been  maintained  sacredly 
her  principles  of  sobriety,  virtue,  thrift,  intelligence,  equal- 
ity. From  them  have  come  her  leaders  and  the  loyal  guar- 
.  dians  of  the  ideas  and  principles  which  have  been  her  in- 
spiration. In  each  of  them  still  is  the  ark  of  her  covenant. 
To  them,  to  you  still  she  looks  to  stand  with  her  for  the 
stability  of  order,  for  the  government  of  law.  for  standards 
of  civilization  that  shall  meet  the  problem  of  her  increasing 
population,  which,  crowded  into  her  cities,  needs  more  than 
ever  the  healthy  counterpoise  of  the  sparser  and  sithpler 
town.  Nor  on  such  a  day,  nor  in  such  a  presence  as  this, 
can  I  fear  that  she  will  look  to  them  and  to  you  in  vain. 

Responding  for  the  Commonwealth,  I  bring  you  only 
words  of  good  cheer.  For  you,  the  most  sincere  pride  and 
satisfaction  in  your  two  hundred  years  of  honorable  record, 
and  the  kindest  wishes  for  more  than  two  hundred  more  of 
even  greater  happiness  and  thrift.  For  herself,  her  health 
in  spite  of  her  advancing  years  was  never  better,  thank 
you.  Her  family  has  increased  so  that  her  children  number 
something  more  than  a  million  and  a  half;  but  they  are  all 
doing  well — the  boys  ambitious,  thrifty  and  industrious,  and 
the  girls  married,  or  getting  ready  to  be  married,  or  else 
keeping  school.  Times,  which  were  a  little  hard  for  a  "year 
or  two,  are  better  now,  and  she  is  getting  good  stead}'  work 
at  better  wages.  Her  eyes  are  open,  and  her  great  heart  is 
warm  for  all  who  need  her  help  or  pit}'.  For  the  poor,  for 
the  unfortunate,  for  the  sick,  for  the  infirm,  her  Christian 
charity  never  fails.  Among  her  children  she  knows  no  dis- 
tinction, and  they  all  stand  equal  in  her  esteem,  so  long  as 
they  behave  themselves  equally  well;  all  with  equal  rights, 

E2 


74  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CEXTENNIAL. 

and  all  equally  expected  to  do  their  duty  to  her  and  to  one 
another.  She  is  a  great,  happy,  noble,  industrious  Com- 
monwealth— especially  under  her  present  modest  adminis- 
tration— the  hum  of  her  myriad  industries  is  her  sweetest 
music;  the  happy  homes  of  her  people  are  hor  brightest 
sunshine  ;  and  the  intelligence  and  education  of  her  sons 
and  daughters  are  her  chicfest  pride.  Nothing  was  needed 
to  till  her  cup  to  the  brim  but  to  come  into  the  county  of 
the  large-hearted  Pilgrims ;  to  get  the  elbow-room  and  the 
free  breath  of  the  great  salt  sea  and  its  shore ;  to  find  that 
two  hundred  years  have  but  made  this  one  of  her  daughters 
only  younger  and  fresher  and  more  promising;  and  to  go 
back  assured  that  nothing  that  was  of  value  in  the  character 
of  th*  fathers  has  been  lost,  but  that  each  one  of  her  towns 
is  an  npwinding  spiral  of  progress — a  fulfilment  of  the 
promise  of  its  birth  ;  another  illustration  of  the  harmony  of 
liberty  and  law ;  another  tribute  to  republican  institutions. 

The  Second  Sentiment — "The  President  of  the  United 
States."  Response  by  Hon.  William  W.  Crapo,  Member  of 
Congress  from  the  First  District. 

Mr.  President, — I  did  not  suppose  when  I  came  here  that 
I  should  be  called  upon  to  respond  for  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  That  duty  usually  devolves  upon  some  dis- 
tinguished officer  in  the  Executive  Department  of  the  gov- 
ernment. It  would  have  been  more  appropriate  perhaps, 
on  tlws  occasion,  to  have  called  upon  some  one  of  the  post- 
masters within  the  four  towns  constituting  old  Rochester,  or 
upon  the  keeper  of  one  of  the  many  light-houses  which  il- 
lumine its  coast.  The  President  during  the  past  three  or 
four  months  has  been  speaking  for  himself,  and  with  such 
frequency  and  clearness  that  as  a  member  of  the  national 
legislature  I  have  had  no  difficulty  in  comprehending  his 
meaning.  But  I  will  not  undertake  to-day,  in  this  presence, 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  75 

the  discussion  of  the  great  questions  involved  in  the  prerog- 
atives ol  the  Executive,  the  exercise  of  the  veto  power, 
and  the  conflicts  between  national  supremacy  and  State  sov- 
ereignty. There  are  themes  in  your  local  history,  suggested 
by  this  celebration,  which  are  more  agreeable.  One  fact, 
however,  may  be  properly  mentioned  in  connection  with  the 
sentiment  of  respect  which  you  have  proposed  to  the  Presi- 
dent. There  has  been  ascribed  to  him  an  "amiable  obsti- 
nacy." My  personal  acquaintance  with  him  leads  me  to  say 
that  there  is  in  his  character  an  element  of  earnestness  and 
good-natured  firmness  which  is  conspicuous,  and  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  he  acquired  this  amiable  obstinacy,  which  is 
an  Old  Colony  trait,  from  his  maternal  ancestors,  the  Bur- 
chards,  .who  many  years  ago  resided  within  the  limits  of  the 
Colony. 

I  have  listened  with  pleasure  to  the  very  able  and  inter- 
esting address  made  by  the  orator  of  the  day.  His  account 
of  this  early  settlement,  its  purposes  and  progress,  his  com- 
parisons of  the  past  with  the  present  and  his  reflections 
thereon,  have  been  entertaining  and  instructive.  There  is 
a  charm  and  fascination  about  the  early  history  of  the  Old 
Colony.  The  recital  of  its  local  incidents,  the  portraiture 
of  its  pioneer  men,  the  story  of  its  hardships  and  priva- 
tions, its  heroic  struggles  and  its  commanding  success,  not 
only  excite  our  admiration,  but  thrill  us  with  their  romance. 
The  history  of  the  Old  Colony  is  a  history  of  achievements. 
It  is  the  history  of  an  inflexible  purpose,  in  obedience  to 
truth  and  right,  never  bending  to  expediency,  never  yield- 
ing to  human  weaknesses,  but  conquering  adversity  and  tri- 
umphantly securing  freedom  for  the  consciences  and  minds 
ot  men.  The  history  of  the  world  is  full  of  colonizations, 
some  for  conquest,  some  tor  wealth,  some  as  a  refuge  from 
tyranny  and  oppression,  but  this  alone  was  undertaken  to 
secure  the  civil  and  religious  liberty  of  man.  But  these  are 


76  EOCHESTEK'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

familiar  thoughts,  and  which  can  be  much  better  expressed 
l>y  others  than  by  me. 

I  cannot  boast,  as  many  of  you  can  who  are  here  to-day, 
of  a  birth-place  in  Rochester,  neither  am  I  a  descendant  of 
the  old  town.  But  I  am  a  very  near  neighbor.  I  was  born, 
as  were  my  ancestors  for  many  generations,  just  over  the 
line,  in  the  old  town  of  Dartmouth.  If  not  one  of  your 
family,  I  have  rights  here  to-day  as  a  neighbor,  and  I  come 
with  the  spirit  of  a  neighbor  to  enjoy  your  bi-centennial 
party  and  to  tell  you  how  proud  I  am,  and  how  proud  the 
Dartmouth  family  is,  of  your  acquaintance  and  intimacy. 
AVe  esteem  our  Rochester  r.eighbors  ;  we  know  their  ster- 
ling good  qualities,  their  intelligence  and  their  hospitality. 
We  rejoice  at  their  prosperity  ;  we  appreciate  the  thrift  and 
good  sense  of  their  sons,  and  we  admire  the  beauty  and 
graces  of  their  daughters.  For  two  hundred  years  we  have 
lived  side  by  side  in  harmony.  We  have  never  quarrelled 
about  the  boundarj7  lines,  nor  engaged  in  local  disputes.  I 
can,  however,  remember  that  we  used  to  say  that  the  her- 
rings which  formerly  went  to  the  ponds  by  way  of  the 
Acushnet,  you  diverted  to  Sippican  and  Agawam  and  Snip- 
tuit.  But  perhaps  the  herrings  were  to  blame  ;  and  then, 
too,  we  did  not  own  the  spawning  ponds,  and  so  had  less 
reason  to  find  fault. 

In  celebrating  your  two  hundredth  birthday,  you  can  rea- 
sonably be  proud  of  maturity  of  years,  and  yet  you  are  not 
so  old  as  your  neighbor.  The  old  town  of  Dartmouth  was 
settled  in  16(54,  which  was  fifteen  years  before  the  settle- 
ment in  Rochester.  The  question  very  naturally  suggests 
itself,  why  did  the  Dartmouth  pioneers  pass  by  the  fertile 
lands  and  pleasant  shores  of  Rochester,  to  settle  in  the 
rocky  woods  of  Dartmouth?  The  streams  of  Rochester 
were  as  well  stocked  with  fish  as  were  those  of  Dartmouth  ; 
the  harbors  of  Sippican  and  Mattapoisett,  although  not  as 


ROCHESTER'S    BI-CENTENNIAL.  77 

commodious  and  deep  as  the  harbors  of  Acushuet  and  Ap- 
ponagansett,  were  well  protected  and  were  equal  to  all  the 
requirements  of  a  primitive  commerce;  while  the  lands 
around  your  ponds  and  on  the  necks  which  stretched  into 
the  sea  were  among  the  most  productive  in  the  colony. 
Why  did  the  men  of  Dartmouth  go  further  and  fare 
worse?  One  reason  perhaps  may  be  found  in  the  causes 
which  led  to,  and  the  circumstances  attending,  their  de- 
parture from  Plymouth.  With  the  exception  of  Dart- 
mouth, the  early  settlements,  such  as  Sandwich  and  Barn- 
stable  and  Kingston  and  Scituate,  were  made  under  the 
auspices  and  directions  of  the  Plymouth  church.  The 
central  figure  of  the  new  town  was  the  minister.  He  not 
only  guided  the  spiritual  affairs  of  the  little  community,  but 
was  the  leader  in  its  local  administration.  The  settlement 
of  Dartmouth  was  prompted  by  the  exaction  of  church 
rates,  assessed  by  the  Colony  Court.  .  A  small  portion  of 
the  colonists  disapproved  of  taxation  levied  for  the  support 
of  a  hireling  ministry,  especially  if  that  ministry  was  not  in 
sympathy  with  their  peculiar  religious  notions.  The  refusal 
to  pay  the  church  taxes  led  to  the  distraint  of  their  goods, 
the  seizure  of  their  cattle  and  the  imprisonment  of  their  per- 
sons. They  were  non-resistants,  but  terribly  in  earnest ; 
and  after  suffering  for  some  time  for  conscience'  sake,  the 
Dartmouth  pioneers  withdrew  from  Plymouth  and  sought  a 
new  home.  The  Plymouth  church,  which  ruled  the  colony, 
let  them  go  in  peace ;  glad,  doubtless,  to  be  rid  of  the  stiff- 
necked  and  rebellious  Quakers.  In  going  from  Plymouth, 
they  went  as  far  as  they  could  and  not  get  uncomfortably 
near  the  hostile  and  treacherous  Indians  ;  for  while  they  re- 
sented the  interference  and  dictation  of  Plymouth  in  matters 
of  conscience,  they  respected  its  military  power  and  desired 
its  protection  and  support  when  their  homes  were  invaded 
by  cruel  foes. 


78  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

There  is  another  reason  which  may  be  suggested  why 
these  men  passed  by  the  attractions  and  advantages  of  Roch- 
ester and  located  in  Dartmouth.  In  the  early  history  of  the 
colony,  the  lands  of  Rochester  furnished  the  pasturage  for 
Plymouth.  It  was  the  place  where  the  cattle  found  suste- 
nance during  the  winters.  As  early  as  1651,  Sippican  was 
granted  to  Plymouth  by  the  Colony  Court  "for  a  place  to 
herd  their  cattle,"  and  this  grant  was  eight  miles  by  the  sea 
and  four  miles  into  the  land. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact,  and  worthy  of  mention  to-day, 
that  this  locality  in  its  earliest  history  was  devoted  to  the 
advancement  of  education.  The  rental  which  the  colony 
derived  from  these  rich  grazing  fields  was  donated  to  free 
schools,  for  the  maintaining  and  upholding  of  the  school  at 
Plymouth,  and,  in  the  language  of  the  order,  "not  to  be 
estranged  from  that  end."  The  school  fund  of  the  Ply- 
mouth Colony  came  from  the  rental  of  the  pasture  lands  of 
Rochester  and  from  the  income  derived  from  the  rights 
granted  to  take  mackerel  and  bass  and  herrings  with  nets 
and  seines.'  The  pasturage  of  Rochester  and  the  fisheries 
of  Cape  Cod  must  always  be  associated  together  as  furnish- 
ing the  earliest  support  for  free  schools  upon  this  continent. 
Massachusetts  has  always  been  proud  of  her  fisheries,  and 
has  watched  them  with  jealous  care  and  protected  them  by 
laws.  She  may  well  do  so,  considering  the  benefits  received 
from  them  in  the  education  of  the  boys  and  girls  of  the  Col- 
on}'. A  citizen  of  Massachusetts,  writing  more  than  one 
hundred  years  ago  about  her  resources  and  material  wealth, 
said  that  the  mackerel  fishery  was  of  more  value  to  Massa- 
chusetts than  would  be  the  pearl  fisheries  of  Ceylon.  The 
comparison  may  be  an  exaggerated  one,  if  the  computation 
is  to  be  made  in  dollars  and  cents;  but  when  the  revenue 
derived  from  the  fisheries  is  devoted  to  the  education  of  the 
.youth  of  the  Commonwealth,  their  value  is  not  overstated, 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  79 

The  fund  arising  from  this  source  could  not  have  been  very 
large,  for  we  read  that  in  1673  the  sum  ot  £33  was  charged 
for  the  expense  of  the  school  out  of  the  profits  obtained 
from  the  fisheries  of  Cape  Cod.  There  was  at  that  time  an 
allowance  of  £5,  out  of  the  fishery  fund,  to  every  town  of 
fifty  families,  for  schools  in  that  town ;  and  any  town  of 
seventy  families  which  failed  to  maintain  a  grammar  school, 
was  compelled  to  pay  £5  every  year  to  the  next  town  that 
had  such  a  school.  These  figures  may  seem  trivial  when 
contrasted  with  those  of  the  present  day.  There  was  ex- 
pended last  year  for  the  education  of  the  youth  of  this 
country,  sixty-four  millions  of  dollars.  Massachusetts 
alone  has  5,730  schools,  with  310,000  pupils  and  8,500 
teachers,  and  upon  these  she  expends  $5,000,000  annually. 
But  magnificent  as  these  figures  appear,  they  are  not  more 
interesting  nor  suggestive  to  us,  -to-day,  than  the  mention 
of  the  efforts  made  by  our  fathers  in  donating  the  pasture 
lands  of  this  town  and  the  fisheries  of  the  Cape  for  the  edu- 
cation of  the  youth  of  the  colony. 

The  Third  Sentiment — "The  Legal  Profession  of  the 
Commonwealth."  Response  of  Hon.  George  Marston  of 
New  Bedford,  Attorney-General  of  the  Commonwealth. 

Mr.  President, — After  the  very  excellent  response  which 
has  been  made  by  His  Honor,  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  for 
the  entire  Commonwealth,  which  includes,  of  courss,  all 
classes  and  conditions  of  its  people,  and  among  them  the 
members  of  the  legal  profession,  there  can  be  little  need 
that  anything  more  should  be  said  in  reference  to  them,  or 
on  their  behalf.  And  after  the  honorable  mention  which 
has  been  made  by  the  orator  to  whom  we  have  listened  with 
so  much  of  pleasure  and  interest,  of  some  eminent  lawyers 
who  had  their  origin  in  old  Rochester  it  might  be  quite  as 
well  to  take  them  as  representatives  of  what  the  profession 


80  ROCHESTER'S   BI-CENTENNIAL. 

of  the  law  nmy  do,  and  has  done,  in  titling  men  for  the  im- 
portant duties  of  life,  and  to  assert  that  what  this  locality 
has  done,  in  this  respect,  has  been  done  hy  most,  if  not  all, 
of  the  older  townships  and  settlements  which  now  make  up 
so  large  a  part  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 
Yet,  if  there  were  time  given  me  here,  as  fortunately  for 
you  there  is  not,  I  should  like  to  recall  to  your  memory  a 
few  of  the  lawyers  of  more  recent  times,  who  had  their 
homes  in  this  territory  of  Rochester.  It  would  be  pleasant 
to  speak  at  length  of  Abraham  Holmes,  who,  coming  to  the 
bar  after  middle  age,  earned  for  himself  an  honorable  place 
in  his  profession  and  a  position  quite  as  honorable  as  a  citi- 
zen and  as  a  man  ;  and  of  his  distinguished  son,  Charles 
Jarvis  Holmes,  a  man  of  genial  temper,  of  excellent  wit, 
tilted  for  the  brightest  companionship,  whose  disposition 
and  method  of  lite  may  be  seen  in  the  sentence  which  he 
truthfully  framed,  as  he  said,  to  be  inscribed  on  the  stone 
which  should  mark  his  resting-place,  "by  profession  a  law- 
yer, by  practice  a  peacemaker";  and  of  Seth  Miller,  Jr., 
who.  though  born  in  Middleborough,  wns  for  a  lifetime  so 
identified  with  Wareham,  as  to  be  fairly  entitled  to  be 
counted  a  Wareham  man,  and  who  by  faithful  adherence  to 
the  work  of  his  office  and  patient  continuance  in  well-doing, 
won  the  respect  of  his  brethren  of  the  bar  and  the  confi- 
dence of  the  public. 

In  acknowledging  the  courtesy  of  your  invitation  to  be 
here  to-day,  I  prefer  to  pass  by  the  fact  that  I  am  a  resident 
of  New  Bedford  and  remember  that  I  have  been  a  Cape  Cod 
man,  for  there  is  good  reason  why  all  of  n^  of  Barustable 
origin  should  have  special  regard  for  this  territory  of  ancient 
Seipigan,  for  we  came  near  being  descendants  of  the  early 
settlers  here,  and  this  town  came  near  to  being  forty  years 
older  than  it  is.  The  people  of  Rev.  Mr.  Lothrop,  who  ar- 
rived with -him  in  Boston  in  September,  1634,  and  pro- 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  81 

ceeded  thence  to  Scituate,  which  was  their  destination,  and 
where  a  meeting  house  had  been  erected  for  them,  in  antici- 
pation of  their  coming,  remained  in  the  latter  place  only 
five  years;  and  when,  in  1639,  they  found  reason  for  re- 
moval, their  intention  at  first  was  to  go  to  Seipigan,  where 
lands  had  been  assigned  them,  and  which  evidently  were 
goodly  and  desirable  lands,  and  which,  as  we  have  heard  to- 
day, were  afterwards  the  pasture  grounds  of  the  primitive 
farmers  and  mariners  of  this  region.  But  a  settlement  at 
Barnstable  was  preferred,  because  of  the  more  extensive 
"hay  grounds"  there;  meaning,  no  doubt,  the  large  salt 
marshes  in  the  westerly  part  of  that  town.  The  settlers 
evidently  thought  they  could  manage  to  find  subsistence  for 
their  beasts  during  the  summer  time,  even  on  Cape  Cod ; 
but  to  provide  for  the  then  long  and  cheerless  winters,  the 
marshes  had  strong  attractions,  after  the  advantage  which 
they  had  derived  from  them  while  in  Scituate.  So  Mr. 
Lothrop's  company  went  to  Barnstable  as  early,  at  least,  as 
1639  ;  by  which  movement  of  policy,  Rochester  has  been 
shorn  of  forty  years  of  its  civic  life.  Whether  it  was  bet- 
ter or  worse  for  them  or  for  you,  I  will  not  undertake  to 
say ;  yet  it  is  certain  that  there  has  proved  to  be  something 
vital  and  tonic  in  the  atmosphere  of  that  piece  of  amphibious 
prairie,  the  "Great  Marshes"  of  Barnstable,  for  it  was  on 
their  margin  that  were  reared  such  patriots  and  advocates 
and  statesmen  as  James  Otis,  such  naval  commanders  as 
John  Percival,  and  such  jurists  as  Lemuel  Shaw.  One 
thing  ought  to  make  us  grateful  that  Barnstable  was  settled 
in  1639  instead  of  Rochester;  for  if  the  latter  place  had 
been  occupied  at  that  time,  we  should  have  missed  the 
pleasure  of  being  here  to-day. 

And   speaking  of  the   relations  between  Barnstable  and1 
Rochester,  we  ought  not  to  forget  that  for  the  first  thirty 
years  of  its  existence,  Rochester  belonged  to  the  County  of 
F 


82  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

Barnstable.  Somewhere  about  1709  it  passed  into  the 
County  of  Plymouth,  for  what  cause  or  reason  I  cannot 
understand  or  ascertain.  Surely,  they  parted  with  very 
good  company  when  they  went  away,  and  1  will  not  under- 
take to  say  they  did  not  find  companionship  equally  as  good 
when  they  cast  in  their  lots  with  the  towns  of  Plymouth. 
But  I  think  I  may  well  say  that  much  of  the  success  which 
has  attended  these  Rochester  towns,  since  the  transfer  to 
Plymouth  has  been  due  to  the  early  training  in  the  Cape 
Cod  school,  and  the  wise  and  pious  inculcations  of  the 
Lothrops  and  Cudworths  and  the  other  worthies  of  those 
days. 

You,  sir.  and  the  citizens  of  what  was  formerly  Roches- 
ter, are  entitled  to  the  highest  commendation  for  the  patri- 
otic purpose  and  spirit  with  which  you  have  commemorated 
this  day,  and  which  has  drawn  together  this  large  concourse 
of  those  who  are  entitled  to  ca!l  themselves  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  Rochester.  It  is  well  to  keep  in  mind  and  to 
study  to  imitate  the  virtues  and  characters  of  those  men  and 
women  who  have  filled  with  usefulness  and  honor  these  two 
centuries  which  lie  behind  us.  There  is  nothing  in  the  in- 
struction or  example  which  the  present  day  affords  that 
equals  the  lesson  which  we  can  derive  from  the  contempla- 
tion of  the  simple  lives  of  those  early  generations  which 
have  peopled  and  blessed  these  shores.  In  all  that  was 
given  them  to  do,  in  the  homely  routine  of  every  day ;  in 
faithful  performance  of  duties  to  the  struggling  colony  and 
the  feeble  province;  in  the  enforced  vigilance  of  watch  and 
ward  ;  in  the  perilous  edge  of  battle  in  the  early  Indian  hos- 
tilities, and  in  the  later  wars  for  independence  of  govern- 
ment or  for  national  supremacy,  they  have  taught  us  a 
"deep  and  lasting  lesson  of  virtue,  enterprise,  patience, 
zeal  and  faith."  Standing  here  to-day  and  taking  this  retro- 
spection of  these  two  hundred  busy  and  eventful  years,  we 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  83 

are  compelled  to  admit  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  allure- 
ments of  the  present  time  which  can  promise  us  anything 
better  than  this  history  presents.  There  is  higher  and 
purer  inspiration  to  be  drawn  from  the  past,  as  it  has  dis- 
played itself  in  the  recital  which  we  have  heard  to-day,  than 
in  all  the  enticements  which  the  gilded  hand  of  speculation 
and  distant  adventure  holds  out  to  the  view.  There  is  no 
need  that  the  children  of  these  towns  should  look  beyond 
their  limits  to  see  whepe  they  may  lead  lives  of  happiness 
and  honor  and  success.  The  highest  success,  the  highest 
happiness  has  been  attained  and  may  yet  be  attained  here  at 
home.  As  we  seek  to  know  what  the  next  century  here 
shall  be,  whether  it  shall  be  a  good  time  that  is  coming,  an 
all  hail  hereafter ;  whether  we  shall  be  lifted  upon  some 
higher  wave  of  prosperity  than  any  that  has  yet  borne  us 
upwaid  and  onward,  or  whether  a  reflex  and  ebbing  tide  is 
to  bear  us  backward,  may  be  best  determined  by  the  heed 
we  are  willing  to  give  to  the  record  which  is  now  rounded 
into  two  centuries  of  most  honorable  history.  Looking  at 
this  record,  we  can  learn,  if  we  will,  how  much  more  ser- 
viceable to  the  State,  how  much  more  productive  of  serene 
happiness  is  the  plain  and  patient  performance  of  the  simple 
duties  of  life,  than  are  any  of  the  successes  or  rewards  which 
are  to  be  sought  in  distant  fields  or  in  the  dizzy  pursuits  of 
ambition.  And  catching  the  quiet  inspiration  which  comes 
to  us  from  these  two  hundred  years  of  Rochester  life  and 
effort,  let  us  so  live  and  work  that  when  the  story  of  the 
coming  centuries  shall  in  their  time  be  told,  we  may  share 
in  the  honor  and  glory  and  renown  which  has  been  achieved 
by  those  who  have  preceded  us. 

The  Fourth  Sentiment — "The  General  Court  which  in- 
corporated the  town  of  Rochester.  We  call  upon  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  State  Senate  to  explain  the  historical  relations 


84  ROCHESTER'S   BI-CENTENNIAL. 

between    Barnstable    County   and    the    ancient    Sippican." 
Response  of  Hon.  John  B.  D.  Cogswell  of  Yarmouth. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen :  I  have  great 
pleasure  in  being  present  on  this  occasion,  and  especially  in 
being  introduced  in  this  connection,  and  to  speak  to  the 
early  historical  relations  of  Rochester  with  Cape  Cod,  where 
I  was  born,  and  which  I  have  the  honor  to  represent  in  our 
General  Court.  But  as  the  old  philosopher  said  :  "Count 
no  man  happy  till  his  life  is  finished,"  so  let  no  after-dinner 
orator  felicitate  himself  upon  his  speech  until  he  has  deliv- 
ered it.  For  here,  in  the  first  place,  bur  distinguished  Con- 
gressman, Mr.  Crapo,  who  so  satisfactorily  represents  Barn- 
stable  County  as  well  as  Plymouth  and  Bristol  and  the 
Islands,  has  most  happily  anticipated  what  I  had  hoped  to 
say  about  the  curious  associations  between  the  Cape  fisher- 
ies and  the  lands  of  Sippican  and  Wareham  for  the  support 
of  a  school  at  Plymouth,  and  that  "our  approved  friend," 
Mr.  Thomas  Hinckley  of  Barnstable,  on  the  Cape,  was  ap- 
pointed as  "a  steward  of  the  said  school."  And  so,  again, 
my  friend  and  countryman,  the  eminent  Attorney-General, 
himself  a  native  of  Barnstable,  has  told  you — and  who  has 
a  better  right  to  speak  of  aught  connected  with  that  most 
venerable  and  even  illustrious  town  ?— how  nearly  it  hap- 
pened that  the  settlement  at  Barnstable  was  made  at  Roch- 
ester, and  that  Rochester  after  that  was  for  thirty  years  in- 
deed a  part  of  Barnstable  County.  It  is  of  course  useless 
to  speculate  upon  what  might  have  been  if  the  noble  and 
God-fearing  Mr.  Lothrop,  who  gathered  his  church  in  Lon- 
don some  years  before  the  sailing  of  the  Mayflower,  and 
whose  congregation  was  broken  up  by  the  pursuivants  of 
the  Bishop  of  London,  and  he  himself  thrown  into  prison 
and  long  languishing  there,  and  only  released  upon  condi- 
tion of  leaving  England,  had  brought  his  flock,  after  the 
short  sojourn  at  Scituate,  to  Sippican  instead  of  Barnstable. 


ROCHESTER'S    BI-CENTENNIAL.  85 

There,  arriving  after  the  tedious  journey,  he  offered  up  prayer 
in  thanksgiving  under  the  shadow  of  the  "great  rock  in  a 
weary  land,"  long  marked  upon  the  highway,  and  here  he 
would  have  done  the  same.  And  this  is  all  of  still  less  con- 
sequence, since  we  know  that  the  descendants  of  Pastor 
Lothrop  and  the  other  pioneers  of  Barnstable  and  the  Cape 
were  in  fact  the  pioneers  and  actual  settlers  of  Rochester. 
For  in  1679,  Joseph  and  Barnabas  Lothrop  of  Barnstable, 
with  Winslow  of  Marshfield  and  Clark  of  Plymouth,  were 
agents  of  the  thirty  proprietors  who  bought  all  of  Roches- 
.ter  outside  of  Plymouth  for  £200.  In  1684,  Sandwich  on 
the  Cape  had  sent  you  Blackburn,  Hammond  and  Barlow  ; 
by  1689,  Wing  and  Burgess  were  here ;  and  about  the  same 
time  or  soon  after,  Saunders,  Nye,  Swift,  Willis,  Ellis, 
Blackmer,  Dexter,  Gifford,  Allen,  all  Sandwich  names. 
From  Barnstable,  you  got  Davis,  Lombard,  Amiable  and 
Chase;  from  Eastham,  Higgins.  From  Yarmouth,  my  own 
native  place,  came  Tilley,  Sears,  Rider,  Hiller,  White.  Of 
the  latter  stock,  sprang  Lieut. -Col.  Ebeiiezer  White,  of 
whose  revolutionary  services  your  orator  has  made  such 
honorable  mention,  being  no  other  than  the  stock  of  Pere- 
grine White,  that  famous  child  born  on  board  the  May- 
flower in  the  harbor -of  Provincetown,  to  whom  I  also  have 
the  great  satisfaction  of  tracing  lineage,  and  so  "  claim  kin- 
dred here."  Nay,  we  of  Yarmouth  even  furnished  you 
your  first  minister  in  Samuel  Arnold,  son  of  Rev.  Sam- 
uel Arnold,  the  third  minister  of  Marshfield,  who  be- 
fore that  had  lived  at  Yarmouth,  where,  in  1649,  your 
Samuel  was  born.  Thus  you  are  very  bone  ol  our  bone  and 
flesh  of  our  flesh. 

The  first  representative  of  Rochester  in  the  General  Court 
(1692)  is  said  to  have  been  Samuel  'Prince,  formerly  of 
Sandwich,  and  father  of  the  famous  annalist  of  Xew  Eng- 
land, grandson  of  our  good  Gov.  Thomas  Hinckley  of  the 
Cape.  So  at  least  runs  one  account. 


86  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENJSTIAL. 

This  historical  feast  is  like  a  basket  picnic,  to  which  each 
brings  and  contributes  that  which  he  has  been  able  to  gather. 
I  have  been  specially  interested  in  reading  of  your  first 
ministers,  whose  virtues  would  admit  the  application  to 
them  of  the  epitaph  of  one  of  the  old  ministers  of  Barn- 
stable.  "  Think  what  a  Christian  minister  should  be, 
you've  then  his  epitaph;  for  such  was  he."  Rev.  Ivory 
Hovey  and  Mr.  Le Baron,  the  two  first  ministers  of  Matta- 
poisett,  in  their  joint  pastorates,  covered  just  one  hundred 
years.  Mr.  LeBaron  was  the  descendant  of  a  good  French 
surgeon  who,  shipwrecked  in  a  privateer  on  the  back  of 
Cape  Cod,  was  detained  as  a  close  prisoner  until  Lieut.' 
Gov>  Stoughton  released  him  at  the  urgent  request  of  the 
people  of  Plymouth,  that  he  might  become  a  physician 
there,  where  indeed  he  proved  himself  a  good  medicine,  as 
well  as  a  good  Christian,  though  our  fathers  shuddered 
when  they  learned  that  he  always  slept  with  the  crucifix 
pillowed  upon  his  breast.  But  the  Mattapoiselt  clergyman 
was  as  devoted  to  his  Protestant  parishioners  as  his  ancestor 
had  been  to  his  patients  or  to  the  papacy.  I  have  recently 
read  a  very  beautiful  and  interesting  account  of  him.  When 
he  grew  so  old  that  he  was  obliged  to  give  up  the  active 
care  of  his  people,  he  still  clung  to  the  Sunday  school — the 
lumbs  of  his  flock.  No  priest  of  his  ancestral  religion,  no 
French  cure,  no  good  Romanist  father  of  his  parish,  con- 
fessor  as  well,  and  so  depository  of  the  secrets  of  his  peo- 
ple, more  tenderly  loved,  and  was  loved  by  them,  than  this 
good  and  pure  pastor  of  Mattapoisett. 

From  these  people  of  Scituate  and  Sandwich  and  the 
Cape,  once  more  you  got  your  name  of  Rochester  in  County 
Kent  in  England,  whence  many  of  your  fathers  came.  They 
were  "  Men  of  Kent,"  and  proud  of  the  famous  county  of 
their  origin  and  of  the  city  of  Rochester,  seat  of  an  ancient 
oyster  fishery.  Kent  is  affectionately  called  "  the  flower  of 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  87 

the  English  counties,"  and  Rochester  is  an  old,  old  city, 
scene  of  Danish  warfare  and  sack,  and  rescued  by  King  Al- 
fred more  than  a  thousand  years  ago. 

Here  many  kings  of  England  have  visited  and  here 
fought.  King  John,  after  Magna  Charta,  here  besieged  his 
high-spirited  barons.  Here  is  a  famous  old  cathedral,  and 
the  famous  castle  they  say  the  Romans  built.  Lastly,  and 
perhaps  best  of  all,  here  is  Walts'  hospital  for  the  six  poor 
travellers  which  Dickons  has  described  for  us.  How  pleas- 
ant that  you  should  have  a  kind  message  from  old  Rochester 
by  the  sea  to-day  ! 

When  your  people  had  been  about  a  hundred  years  at 
Rochester,  they  paid  a  visit  to  the  old  folks  down  on  the 
Cape.  This  was  in  the  fall  of  1774. 

Under  act  of  Parliament,  the  king  had  summoned  coun- 
cillors by  mandamus,  who  before  had  been  elected  by  the 
General  Court,  and  the  sheriff  was  also  directed  to  appoint 
jurors  previously  selected  in  the  towns.  These  were  seri- 
ous infractions  of  the  charter,  and  it  was  determined  that 
the  courts  should  not  sit.  The  Barnstable  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas  being  to  be  held  Sept.  27,  1774,  the  men  of  Bris- 
tol and  Plymouth  counties  met  at  Rochester  Sept.  26,  and, 
entering  into  an  agreement  to  preserve  order  on  the  expedi- 
tion, appointed  a  committee  for  that  purpose,  on  which 
figure  the  Rochester  (and  before-time  Cape)  names  of  Bar- 
low, Sears  and  Wing.  The  same  day,  the  expedition  moved 
on  Sandwich  and  matured  its  organization,  and  the  next 
morning  proceeded  to  Barnstable  in  good  order,  there  dis- 
suading the  court,  not  much  loath,  from  its  session.  The 
members  also  signed  an  agreement  not  to  act  or  take  office 
under  the  recent  acts  of  Parliament. 

On  the  return  of  the  "expedition"  to  Sandwich,  a  per- 
son was  dealt  with  for  saying  he  wished  "the  Rochester 
people  were  in  hell  for  their  treatment  of  Ruggles  and 


88  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

Sprague."     "  He  expressed  sorrow  and  asked    forgiveness 
ot  all.     This  gave  satisfaction." 

Only  a  few  days  afterwards,  some  Tories  at  Sandwich 
having  brutally  assaulted  Col.  Freeman  of  that  place,  the 
authorized  commander  of  the  Barnstable  "  expedition,"  the 
Rochester  and  "Wareham  people  went  down  again,  to  see 
that  justice  Avas  done  to  the  ruffians. 

The  venerable  Abraham  Holmes  of  Rochester  wrote  his 
account  of  this  affair  in  1834,  sixty  years  after.  He  says  : 
"There  may  be  some  who  took  part  in  this  adventure  now 
alive,  beside  myself;  but  I  know  of  none."  His  grandson 
is  here  ;  through  whom  I  hope  we  shall  hear  other  of  the 
reminiscences  of  Abraham  Holmes. 

But  who  were  "  Ruggles  and  Sprague  T"  The  circum- 
stances indicate  that  the  persons  whom  the  Rochester  peo- 
ple had  ill-treated  were  Tories.  Both  names  were  well 
known  and  honored  here.  When,  in  174(5,  the  General 
Court  directed  Mr.  Otis  of  Barnstable,  Tupper  of  Sandwich 
and  Foster  of  Plymouth,  "to  provide  a  suitable  place  for 
the  reception  of  the  Pigwacket  Indians,  now  at  Fort 
William,"  they  reported  that  they  had  provided  a  place  for 
them  at  Assanomock  Neck  in  Rochester,  under  tlft?  care  of 
Capt.  Noah  Sprague  and  Benjamin  Hammond,  Jr.,  both  of 
Rochester.  The  report  was  accepted,  and  £25  in  money 
was  directed  to  be  paid,  that  Sprague  and  Hammond  might 
provide  a  boat,  tools,  provisions  and  other  necessaries  for 
the  present  support  of  the  Indians. 

A  son  of  Capt.  Noah  Sprague  was  John  Sprague,  born  at 
Rochester,  June  21,  1746;  graduated  at  Harvard,  1765; 
who  taught  school  and  studied  medicine  first  at  Roxbury  ; 
then  in  May,  1766,  began  to  keep  the  grammar  school  at 
Worcester,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  study  with  that  famous 
lawyer,  James  Putnam  of  Worcester,  the  last  Attorney- 
General  under  the  king ;  who  was  a  Loyalist  refugee  in 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  89 

1776.  Sprague  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1708,  and  began 
to  practice  in  Newport,  R.  I.,  afterwards  at  Keene,  N.  H., 
and  then  permanently,  at  Lancaster  in  Worcester  Count}', 
where  he  became  partner  with  Abel  Willard,  another  noted 
Loyalist  refugee.  I  thought,  therefore,  he  must  have  been 
a  Tory  like  his  associates;  but  I  was  mistaken.  Of  all  the 
attorneys  and  barristers  in  Worcester  County,  he  was  the 
only  one  who  was  not  a  Tory  and  a  refugee.  He  was  called 
to  be  a  barrister  by  writ  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  17S4; 
was  in  the  Senate  and  House  ;  Sheriff  of  Worcester  County  : 
in  the  Massachusetts  Convention  to  consider  the  adoption  of 
the  Federal  Constitution,  and  voted  for  it ;  7  for  to  43 
against  of  Worcester  County  delegates.  Lastly,  he  was  law 
adviser  to  Gen.  Lincoln  in  the  Shay's  rebellion,  and  a  Jus- 
tice of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  Worcester  County. 

His  practice  was  extensive  in  Middlesex,  Worcester  and 
Hampshire  counties  in-  Massachusetts,  and  Cheshire  and 
Hillsborough,  in  New  Hampshire.  He  was  among  the 
ablest  jurists  of  his  day.  His  mind  was  clear  and  compre- 
hensive, and  he. was  weighty  with  juries.  He  had  "strength 
and  research,  modesty  and  independence."  On  his  tomb- 
stone was  written,  "  Blessed  are  the  peacemakers." 

Peleg  Sprague,  nephew  of  John,  was  born  at  Rochester, 
Dec.  10,  1756;  was  originally  in  a  store,  but  studied  law 
with  Benjamin  West  at  Charlestown,  N.  H.,.  who  has  been 
styled  "the  Parsons  of  New  Hampshire."  Sprague  prac- 
ticed at  Dartmouth,  now  New  Bedford,  then  at  Keene,  N. 
H.,  and  was  in  Congress  from  New  Hampshire.  He  is  said 
to  have  had  "fortitude  of  mind."  "He  felt  no  kind  ot 
intimidation  in  opposing  any  measure  which  he  thought 
incorrect,  however  great  the  character  might  be  which  sup- 
ported it."  He  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College,  1783. 

Among   the   former    ministers    of  Rochester,    was   Rev. 
Thomas  West,  "whose  sou,  Rev.  Samuel  West,  was  pastor 
r2 


90  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

successively  at  Nceclham,  Mass.,  and  Hollis  street  church, 
Boston.  "He  was  distinguished  for  learning,  piety,  liber- 
ality of  sentiment  and  apostolical  simplicity  of  manners." 
He  wrote  a  sketch  of  his  brother  Benjamin  West,  first  a 
minister  and  then  a  lawyer  at  Charlestons,  New  Hamp- 
shire, with  whom  Peleg  Sprague  studied  as  previously 
mentioned.  Chosen  member  of  Congress  under  the  Confed- 
eration and  under  the  Constitution,  member  of  the  conven- 
tion which  framed  the  Constitution  and  of  the  state  conven- 
tion which  ratified  it,  appointed  Attorney-General  and 
Judge  of  Probate,  West  resolutely  declined  all  these  pos- 
itions, "resisting  the  entreaties  and  even  the  resentments  of 
his  friends." 

Thomas  Hammond,  born  at  Rochester,  Sept.  17,  1766, 
was  a  grandson  of  Rev.  Thomas  West,  and  was  fitted  for 
college  by  him,  and  graduating  at  Harvard  College,  studied 
law  with  his  uncle  Benjamin  West,  and  commenced  its  prac- 
tice at  New  Bedford.  He  was  an  excellent  classical  scholar, 
•'  a  man  of  quick  apprehension,  sound  judgment  and  strong 
powers."  with  good  legal  training.  High  expectations  were 
entertained  that  "he  would  be  an  ornament  to  the  bar  and 
shine  with  unrivalled  lustre."  But  his  invincible *timidity 
was  such  that  he  broke  down  in  his  first  cause,  and  never 
made  any  figure  in  trials  afterwards. 

Yes  !  it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here  this  day,  and  participate 
in  this  pleasant,  peaceful,  country-side  celebration,  where 
there  is  nothing  which  the  fathers  would  not  have  smiled 
upon.  Looking  back,  we  see  clearly  that  the  men  of  "Kent" 
were  providentially  brought  to  this  spot  to  establish  a 
nobler  Rochester  in  a  greater  Britain  on  the  shores  of  a  fairer 
and  larger  sea,  and  that  we  fail  to  comprehend  the  meaning 
of  this  day,  if  we  do  not  now  gird  up  our  loins  to  carry  for- 
ward the  great  work  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  begun 
by  the  fathers  of  this  town  and  all  our  towns'. 


ROCHESTER'S  SI-CENTENNIAL.  91 

Fifth  Sentiment— "The  Pilgrims;  the  men  who 
spoke  the  word  heard  round  the  world."  Response  of 
Judge  Thomas  Russell  of  Boston,  President  of  the  Pilgrim 
Society* 

Fellow  Citizens, — It  is  always  pleasant  to  speak  of  the 
Pilgrims,  especially  when  standing  on  the  soil  of  Plymouth 
County  and  in  presence  of  their  sons.  We  have  been  re- 
minded that  Rochester  once  left  this  jurisdiction  for  that  of 
Barnstable*  B-ut  she  might  say  in  the  language  of  the 
psalm  : 

4i  -And  if  ray  feet  dtd  e'er  departs 

Thy  love  reclaimed  my  wandering  heart." 

And  this  is  characteristic  of  all  the  sons  of  Plymouth. 
Their  love  of  home  is  a  little  stronger  than  that  of  other 
men.  Only  last  nisjht,  I  heard  an  illustration  of  this.  A 
gentleman  was  talking  about  the  success  of  the  Old  Colony 
Railroad— a  gentleman  who  knows  more  about  railroads 
than  an  average  commissioner— and  he  said  that  part  of  its 
success  was  due  to  the  fact  that  every  Plymouth  boy,  and 
«very  son  and  daughter  of  Cape  Cod  was  determined,  if 
possible,  to  spend  every  Saturday  night  at  home.  You  see 
that  Boston  capitalists  can  invest  their  money  in  the  faith  of 
•our  notorious  love  of  our  birthplace. 

Here  are  men  who  have  sailed  among  the-  islands  where 
perpetual  summer  scatters  fruit  and  flowers  over  the  fertile 
land,  where  the  soil  and  climate  are  all  that  ours  are  not. 
And  yet  you  never  envied  the  inhabitant  of  those  Edens ; 
you  always  turn  with  pride  and  joy  to  your  own  dear  Old 
Colony.  Because,  for  one  reason,  chilly  as  its  winds  are, 
they  wafted  the  Mayflower  to  these  -shores ;  barren  as  its 
sands  are,  they  first  were  trodden  by  the  Pilgrims'  feet,  and 
they  hold  the  Pilgrims'  graves.  And  it  is  your  faith,  that 
where  those  heroic  men  and  women  lived  and  died,  just 


92  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

there  the  Pilgrim  ways  of  thought  and  life  are  most  closely 
followed  by  their  children. 

But,  before  I  speak  further  of  our  fathers,  let  me  correct 
an  omission  made  by  those  who  have  spoken  so  eloquently 
of  the  sons  of  the  old  Plymouth  Colony.  I  refer  to  one 
who  was  born  within  her  ancient  limits,  and  to  whom  we 
owe  an  eternal  debt  of  gratitude.  Where  would  the  colony 
have  been ;  what  would  have  become  of  our  forefathers  but 
for  the  generosity  and  trust  of  Massasoit?  When  he  ap- 
peared on  Strawberry  Hill,  across  the  brook,  and  when 
Capt.  Standish  made  ready  to  meet  him,  then  the  destinies- 
of  New  England  hung  trembling  in  the  balance  ;  then  it  was 
to  be  decided  whether  the  Pilgrim  enterprize  should  live  or 
die.  No,  I  do  not  quite  believe  this.  However  our  faith 
may  wayer  elsewhere,  standing  here  to-day  in  the  more  im- 
mediate presence  of  the  memories  of  the  past,  we  do  believe 
that  before  the  foundation  of  the  hills  was  laid,  or  ever  the 
earth  had  been  formed,  it  had  been  decreed  that  the  Pil- 
grims should  land  just  where  they  landed  and  bear  just 
what  they  bore,  and  triumph  just  as  they  did  triumph,  and 
become  the  framers  of  such  a  government,  and  the  fathers 
of  such  a  church  as  the  world  had  never  seen. 

The  noble  chieftain  was  but  an  instrument  to  accomplish 
this  design.  So,  every  trial  of  our  fathers  was  but  the 
appointed  means  of  forming  the  character  that  was  to  be 
stamped  on  New  England.  Every  chilling  wind,  each  day 
of  drought,  every  week  of  famine  was  measured  out  so  as  to 
fit  this  chosen  people  for  their  predestined  work.  Philip, 
as  well  as  his  father,  was  appointed  to  aid  in  working  out 
this  end.  From  the  plains  of  Swansea  and  Dartmouth,  of 
Middleboro  and  Bridgewater ;  from  that  sharp  fight  on  the 
banks  of  Pawtucket  River,  that  decimated  the  youth  of 
Plymouth,  not  one  of  the  little  army  escaping  or  trying  to 
escape ;  from  every  field  of  battle  and  from  every  scene 


ROCHESTER'S   BI-CENTENNIAL.  93 

of  suffering  came  the  stern,  strong  nature,  that  was  to 
|ubdne  the  western  world,  and  consecrate  it  to  indepen- 
dence. 

I  love  to  trace  the  unity  of  glory,  that  marks  the  succes- 
sive generations  of  Old  Colony  life.  The  speaker  here  re- 
ferred to  the  exploits  of  Capt.  Church,  to  the  preservation 
of  the  old  charter,  to  the  contest  with  Gov.  Andros  carried 
on  by  Wisvvell  of  Duxbury,  and  Elder  Faunce  of  Plymouth, 
to  the  services  of  Old  Colony  men  in  the  French  and  Indian 
wars  and  especially  to  their  share  of  service  in  the  Revo- 
lution. Barnstable  can  boast  of  Otis,  who  breathed  into 
Independence  the  breath  of  life,  and  Plymouth  tells  of  War- 
ren, who  gave  to  Sam  Adams  the  idea  of  Committees  of 
Correspondence,  and  who  presided  over  the  first  Provincial 
Congress.  Falmouth  honors  the  memory  of  the  Dimmocks  : 
Rochester  had  her  brave  Haskell,  and  Wareham  her  gallant 
Fearing.  We  have  been  reminded  that  Dartmouth  was  set- 
tled before  old  Rochester ;  but  Dartmouth  would  have  been 
settled  in  another  sense,  if  your  hero  had  not  driven  to  their 
ships  the  English  troops  that  came  to  destroy  the  town. 
And  so  we  might,  if  there  were  time,  look  throughout  the 
three  counties,  and  trace  the  contribution  of  each  little  town 
to  the  great  cause  of  liberty.  Sproat  from  Middleboro'  and 
Morton  from  Plymouth ;  Sampson  from  Kingston ;  Gen. 
Thomas  from  Marshfield;  the  Cushings  and  Baileys;  Gen. 
Lincoln  from  Hingham  (for  Hingham  is  Old  Coloivy  now)  ; 
Gen.  David  Cobb,  as  steadfast  for  law  as  he  was  for  liberty  ; 
the  Daggetts  from  Attleboro' ;  Deborah  Sampson  from  lit- 
tle Plympton.  Time  would  fail  me,  if  I  tried  to  give  the 
names  and  deeds,  which  in  the  hour  of  trial  showed  that  the 
Pilgrim  spirit  had  not  fled,  and  that  American  liberty  even 
flourished  on  the  bleak  shores  where  it  was  born. 

Nor  is  it  only  by  deeds  of  war  that  the  children  of  the 
Pilgrims  have  shown  their  heroism.  Only  the  other  day, 


94  ROCHESTER'S   BI-CENTENNIAL. 

the  death  of  a  son  of  Rochester  reminded  us  of  this. 
When,  twenty-five  years  ago,  the  Arctic  foundered  at  sea,§ 
there  was  one  who  might  have  left  her,  but  who  would  not 
desert  his  post ;  one  son  of  your  good  town,  who  stood  on 
his  own  quarter-deck,  clasping  his  son  in  his  arms,  sinking 
with  his  ship  in  heroic  devotion  to  duty,  saved  as  by  a  mir- 
acle. 

•-  So  sfnks  the  (Jay-star  rn  his  ocean  bed. 
And  yet  anew  repairs  his  drooping  head.'* 

Such  examples  are  lights  to  guide  us  in  all  the  ways  of 
life. 

I  have  just  b.een  asked  to  say  a  word  for  the  Cape  Cod 
ship  canal.  But  I  would  not  obtrude  a  plea  for  that  enter- 
prize  among  the  festivities  of  this  memorial  day.  Nor 
would  time  permit  me  even  to  sketch  the  benefits  that  it 
would  confer  upon  the  Old  Colony,  upon  Boston  and  upon 
New  England.  Yet  one  incident  may  well  be  stated.  The 
proposed  route,  as  you  all  know,  was  used  by  the  Pilgrims 
as  the  line  of  their  traffic  with  the  Dutch  and  with  the  set- 
tlers in  Connecticut.  Avoiding  the  shoals  of  Cape  Cod, 
they  sailed  up  Scusset  Creek,  and  with  a  short  portage 
reached  Manomet  river,  at  the  mouth  of  which  they  built  a 
trading-house,  where  their  corn  and  tobacco  were  stored, 
till  their  customers  ariived  from  Long  Island  Sound.  And 
one  of  the  men,  who  was  stationed  on  this  lonely  spot,  em- 
ployed some  of  his  leisure  hours  in  drilling  into  a  rock  near 
the  river's  mouth  these  words  : 

k>  The  Eastern  nations  sink ;  then*  glory  ends ; 
And  Empire  rises  \yhere  the  sun  descends. *r 

I  know  not  where  to  find  in  secular  history  such  a  display 
of  faith  as  this.  Written  in  1627,  while  the  infant  colony 
was  struggling  for  existence,  it  foretold  all  the  glories  of  to- 
day, all  the  greater  glories  yet  to  be.  The  Empire  of 
which  that  Pilgrim  dreamed  we  are  privileged  to  see. 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  95 

Heaven  grant  that  neither  we   nor  our  children's  children 
may  ever  see  any  stain  upon  its  honor ! 


The  Sixth  Sentiment — "  The  old  township  of  Roches- 
ter."  Response  of  John  Eddy,  Esq.,  a  prominent  lawyer 
of  Providence,  R.  I. 

An  old  man  who  had  recently  married  a  young  and  beau- 
tiful girl  was  inquired  of  how  it  came  to  pass  that  he  had 
been  so  successful.  He  replied  "poetry  did  it."  His 
friends  begged  to  be  furnished  with  a  copy.  "Certainly! 
here  it  is." 

u  If  love  be  a  flame  as  some  do  affirm, 

The  drier  the  stick  the  quicker  't  will  burn." 

Now,  Mr.  President,  after  two  hundred  years  of  well 
preserved  life,  when  this  grand  old  town  was  so  kind  as  to 
extend  to  me  an  invitation  to  assist  in  commemorating  her 
two  hundredth  birth  day,  the  blood  in  my  veins  leapt  for 
joy,  and  although  I  am  a  dry  old  stick  yet  the  flame  of  love 
burns  not  more  brightly  in  the  bosom  of  any  one  here  pres- 
ent than  in  my  own  for  this  quaint  old  town  and  the  noble 
and  hospitable  people  who  inhabit  it. 

Early  in  1843  I  came  to  Rochester  almost  a  stranger.  I 
had  just  been  admitted  to  the  bar.  My  health  was  perfect, 
my  hopes  high  and  spirits  buoyant.  Every  day  was  a  red 
lettered  one,  full  of  rich  experience  and  overflowing  with 
life  and  joy.  It  was  then  that  I  received  from  the  good 
people  of  this  town  such  a  hearty  welcome,  such  unde- 
served consideration  and  such  generous  hospitality  that 
there  is  no  spot  on  earth  to  which  my  affections  so  instinct- 
ively turn,  and  I  hope  while  life  lasts  to  make  at  least  an- 
nual pilgrimages  to  the  locality  sacred  to  so  many  memories 
and  associations. 


96  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

••  Still  o'er  these  scenes  m\-  memorj'  wakes 

And  silent  broods  with  miser  euro. 
Time  but  the  impression  deeper  makes 

As  streams  their  channels  deeper  wear." 

What  :i  galaxy  of  noble  and  entertaining  men  and  women 
then  gave  a  wide  reputation  to  the  town  !  At  the  centre, 
Jonathan  Bigelow,  the  elegant  preacher;  John  B,  Sturte- 
vant,  the  chronicler  of  all  pleasing  incidents ;  Elnathan 
Haskell,  the  kind  and  genial  physician;  George  Bonney, 
true  as  steel  to  virtue  and  truth  ;  James  Ruggles,  entertain- 
ing and  witty  ;  and  the  women  also,  who  were  not  a  whit 
behind  in  culture  and  grace. 

Time  would  fail  me  as  it  did  Paul  when  he  desired  to 
speak  of  Barak  and  Gideon,  but  there  are  two  men  still  liv- 
ing who  were  then  in  their  prime.  "Heaven  has  bounteous- 
ly lengthened  out  their  lives  that  they  might  behold  this 
glorious  day."  Jesse  Briggs,  the  encyclopedia  of  poetry 
and  wit,  and  Theophilus  King,  whose  name  I  would  mention 
if  he  were  not  DOW  upon  the  platform. 

At  that  time  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cobb  was  living  and  held  in 
such  reverence  by  old  and  young  that  a  school  boy  came 
near  being  castigated  for  profanity  in  speaking  of  him  as 
old  Dr.  Cobb. 

In  Mattapoisett  there  remained  the  venerable  Dr.  Rob- 
bins  ;  John  A.  LeBarron,  the  Christian  gentleman;  Joseph 
Meigs,  the  clear-headed  and  shrewd  merchant ;  Moses  Rog- 
ers, overflowing  with  kindness  and  good  nature,  and  many 
others  which  time  will  not  permit  to  mention. 

There  has  always  been  among  the  citizens  of  Rochester  a 
decided  individuality,  and  a  volume  might  be  written  filled 
with  curious  incidents.  Of  all  who  have  lived  in  this  town 
my  opinion  isJ;hat  no  two  men  have  stamped  their  charac- 
ters and  made  such  impressions  upon  society  as  Abram 
Holmes  and  the  elder  Ruggles. 


ROCHESTER'S     BI-CENTENNIAL.  97 

As  time  will  not  allow  of  my  further  detaining  yon,  per- 
mit me  to  close  by  relating  an  incident  which  occurred  when 
I  first  came  among  you.  The  ladies  of  Sippican  gave  a 
clambake,  to  which  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  invited. 
They  did  not  conceive  of  it  as  a  dress  parade.  They  very 
appropriately  arrayed  themselves  in  their  neat  attire  and 
jaunty  sun-bonnets ;  but  when  some  of  the  guests  from  a 
neighboring  city  arrived  with  dyed  garments  from  Bozrah 
and  hats  highly  ornamented  with  feathers  and  flowers,  the 
young  ladies  began  to  be  ashamed  of  their  sun-bonnets. 
Among  them  was  one  whom  I  distinctly  remember,  and  of 
whose  sun-bonnet  1  could  give  a  perfect  description,  of 
whom  it  might  as  well  have  been  written  as  of  Jean  In- 
flow's heroine  : 

"The  fairest  form  that  e'er  drew  breath 
Was  my  son's  wi'e.  Elizabeth." 

Perhaps  the  sun-bonnet  made  her  still  more  modest  and 
charming ;  but  her  graces  on  that  occasion  caught  a  lover, 
and  not  long  after  they  were  happily  married.  For  aught  I 
know,  she  was  the  original  of  Miss  Nora  Perry's  verses,  be- 
ginning : 

'•  Tying  her  bonnet  under  her  chin, 
She  tied  her  raven  ringlets  in ; 
But  not  alone  in  the  silken  snare, 
Did  she  catch  her  lovely  floating  hair. 
For,  tying  her  bonnet  under  her  chin. 
She  tied  a  young  man's  heart  within." 

The  Seventh  Sentiment — "  The  old  Ministers  and  Dea- 
cons of  Rochester."  Response  of  Henry  Morton  Dexter, 
D.  D.,  of  Xew  Bedford,  Editor  of  the  Congreyationalist: 

I  may  rightly  claim  this  qualification  to  respond  to  the 
sentiment  to  which  you  have  invited  me  to  speak,  that  my 
honored  father  was  a  clergyman  born  in  Rochester,  and  that 
G 


98  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

his  father  and  his  grandfather  were  both  deacons  of  the  an- 
cient church  in  this  place. 

It  is  not  altogether  easy  for  us  in  this  day  to  comprehend 
the  real  character  and  value  of  the  ministry  of  the  early 
days  of  New  England.  Napoleon  said  that  an  army  of  deer 
led  by  a  lion  is  better  than  an  army  of  lions  led  by  a  deer. 
Now  the  minister  was  the  leader  of  the  old  New  England 
town.  He  was  such,  not  merely  because  he  was  the  minis- 
ter, but  because,  as  the  rule,  he  was  a  man  of  that  native 
force  and  that  broad  culture  which  lifted  him  head  and 
shoulders  above  the  mass  of  the  people  to  whom  he  min- 
istered, and  so  made  it  natural  that  he  should  lead,  and  that 
they  should  follow. 

When  secretary  John  Washburn  minuted  down  for  the 
use  of  the  farmers  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony  the  most 
essential  requisites  for  which  provision  ought  to  be  made, 
he  named  "  Mynysters"  :is  the  first — even  before  the  Patent 
with  the  great  seal.  And  it  was  the  invariable  fact,  that  an 
able  and  a  godly  ministry  was  deemed  the  first  essential  to 
the  settlement  of  a  New  England  town.  Men  wanted  then 
for  their  ministers,  those  not  merely  who,  as  Tickell  said, 
should  be  "  Saints  who  taught  and  led  the  way  to  heaven," 
but  who  could  suggest  wise  counsels,  set  good  examples, 
and  in  all  things  aid  their  flocks  while  on  their  way  to  the 
blessed  land.  In  those  days,  learning  was  the  possession  of 
the  few ;  but  the  New  England  ministry  was  a  learned  min- 
istry. As  the  fruit  of  some  careful  research,  I  am  prepared 
to  affirm,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  of  the  ministry 
of  the  first  century  of  New  England,  about  ninety-seven 
per  cent,  were  graduates  of  universities.  Of  these,  nearly 
thirty  per  cent,  were  graduates  of  Cambridge  (Eng.)  ; 
not  quite  thirteen  per  cent,  of  Oxford  ;  some  two  or  three 
per  cent,  of  Dublin  ;  a  little  short  of  fifty  per  cent,  of  Har- 
vard, and  about  five  per  cent,  of  Yale — then  in  its  earliest 
stages  of  life. 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  99 

I  need  not  say  to  you,  Mr.  President,  that  to  be  a  Uni- 
versity man  then  meant  something  more  than  to  live  four 
years  within  college  walls,  spend  large  sums  of  money,  go 
on  various  sprees,  and  carry  away  a  sheep's  skin  bearing  wit- 
ness to  these  various  qualifications  for  the  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Arts.  Students  then  were  drilled  in  logic  until  they  were 
masters  of  sentences  ;  while  they  usually  made  the  classic 
tongues  almost  as  much  their  own  as  that  into  which  they 
were  born.  It  is  related  of  Thomas  Parker,  one  of  the  ear- 
liest ministers  of  Newbury,  that,  on  one  occasion,  being 
waited  on  by  some  of  his  brethren,  desirous  of  fraternal 
labor  with  him  as  to  some  point  of  doctrine  or  practice 
which  to  them  seemed  awry,  the  interview  began  on  their 
part  in  the.  vernacular,  but  Mr.  Parker  replied  in  Latin. 
They  proved  quite  able  to  go  on,  when  he  slipped  into 
Greek,  and  next  into  Hebrew.  They  still  gave  him  as  good 
as  he  sent ;  when  he  made  a  few  remarks  in  Arabic,  to 
which  there  was  no  reply  ! 

These  were  the  men  of  whom  Stoughton,  in  his  Election 
sermon  of  1668,  made  the  famous  remark  to  which  one  of 
the  honorable  gentlemen  who  have  preceded  me  has  already 
referred  :  "  God  sifted  a  whole  nation,  that  he  might  send 
choice  6rain  over  into  this  wilderness.''  Not  less  worthy  of 
citation  here  is  this  further  testimony  from  that  same  ser- 
mon :  "They  were  men  of  great  renown  in  the  nation  from 
whence  the  Laudian  persecution  exiled  them;  their  learn- 
ing, their  holiness,  their  gravity,  struck  all  men  that  knew 
them  with  admiration.  They  were  Timothies  in  their 
houses,  Chrysostoms  in  their  pulpits,  Augustines  in  their 
disputations." 

Of  course  such  men  were  at  home  in  the  divinity  of  the 
time.  But  they  were  also  experts  in  other  departments. 
The  first  written  code  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  under 
the  charter  of  1629,  was  drawn  up  by  a  minister.  Nathaniel 


100  ROCHESTER'S   BI-CENTEXNIAL. 

Ward,  Hugh  Peters  and  Thomas  Weld — three  ministers  of 
the  Buy — were  sent  over  as  the  agents  of  the  colony  to  Eng- 
land in  1641.  While  in  their  distress  under  the  misgovern- 
ment  of  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  in  1688,  Increase  Mather, 
then  48  years  of  age,  being  urged  to  go  to  London  on  the 
public  business,  left  the  pulpit  of  the  Second  church  in  Bos- 
ton and  the  president's  chair  at  Harvard  College  vacant. 
that  by  night,  and  in  disguise — on  the  friendly  compulsion 
of  the  patriot  party — he  might  do  what  it  was  thought  no 
other  man  could  do  so  well  for  the  common  cause  of  \o\v 
England  liberty.  I  think  even  down  to  the  present  century 
the  country  pastor  has  been  often  called  upon  to  write  the 
wills  of  those  among  his  people  desiring  to  make  testamen- 
tary disposition  of  their  property — partly  because  they  felt 
sure  they  could  safely  trust  him,  and  partly  because  they 
would  save  the  fee  which  the  attorney  would  have  charged 
for  the  like  service. 

Further,  that  charming  "American  Medical  Biography," 
which  was  the  gift  to  our  libraries  of  a  venerable  son 
of  the  Old  Colony,  is  careful  in  outlining  the  early  fortunes 
of  the  healing  art  on  this  side  of  the  sea,  to  state  distinctly, 
that  partly  because  some  knowledge  thereof  was  then 
among  the  accomplishments  of  the  finished  scholar,  and 
partly  because  the  anticipation  of  the  probable  needs  of 
their  new  lite  here  suggested  the  study  ;  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
if  indeed  for  a  long  time  the  chief  dependence  of  the  sick 
were  not  upon  the  pastor,  at  least,  the  practice  of  medicine 
was  to  a  very  large  extent,  and  for  many  years,  "united 
with  the  parochial  duties  of  the  ministers  of  religion."  I 
can  very  well  remember  when,  as  late  as  my  own  time,  it 
was  quite  the  custom  in  my  father's  parish,  to  send  to  him 
before  they  sent  for  the  medical  doctor — and  many  a  sick 
man  did  he  carry  through  alone. 

Nor  was  this  all.     Wre  read  in  the  case  of  nearly  the  first 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  101 

young  aspirant  for  the  pulpit  here,  who  was  on  the  wrong 
side  of  the  Atlantic  for  the  old  Universities,  and  for  whom 
even  the  young  Harvard  was  not  yet  ready — John  Higgin- 
son,  son  of  Francis,  at  Salem — that  "he  was  assisted  in  his 
education  by  the  ministers  of  the  Colony — a  favor  for  which 
in  after  life  he  expressed  the  deepest  gratitude."  This  was 
continually  done.  It  was  indeed  a  'part  of  the  business  of 
the  minister  of  the  old  time  to  search  out  the  bright-eyed, 
long-headed  boys  among  his  flock,  and  begin  their  training 
for  college.  Hundreds  of  the  best  scholars  and  patriots  of 
New  England  have  owed  their  first  impulse  toward  great- 
ness and  usefulness,  to  this  gracious  labor,  while  in  later 
years,  the  college  graduate  studied  theology,  and  perfected 
himself  for  the  sacred  calling,  in  the  family  of  his  pastor,  or 
of  some  eminent  minister.  Thus  Dr.  Nathaniel  Summers  of 
Franklin  was  for  more  than  forty  years  in  himself — sole  and 
alone — a  theological  seminary,  graduating  in  all  at  least  one 
hundred  pupils. 

Such  were  the  early  ministers  of  Massachusetts — and  their 
deacons  were  their  helpers  :  good  men  and  true,  honest  and 
of  good  repute  in  their  generations. 

But,  Mr.  President,  even  this  long  summer's  day  will 
have  its  end,  and  its  shadows  are  stretching  swiftly  toward 
the  east.  Let  me  close  with  two  thoughts  more. 

In  the  first  place,  let  us  correct  a  too  common  impression 
which  attaches  darkly  the  idea  of  gloom  to  Ihese  grand  old 
men,  and  the  general  effect  of  their  lives  and  labors.  Sir, 
this  is  a  mistake.  They  .were  earnest  men,  grave  and  sin- 
cere, but  they  were  not  men  with  a  long- faced  and  whining 
spirit.  Cotton  Mather  says  of  Nathaniel  Ward,  that  he 
was  a  man  "  whose  wit  made  him  known  in  more  Englands 
than  one,"  and  that  he  inscribed  as  the  motto  over  his  man- 
tel-piece, these  words : 

-  Sobrie,  juste,  pie,  loete." 


102  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

That,  sir,  was  their  notion  exactly ;  that  the  man  who  is  so- 
ber, just  and  pious,  will  have  reason  to  he,  and  ought  to  be, 
a  happy  man. 

And,  finally,  let  us — as  wo  look  forward  from  the  vantage- 
ground  of  the  past  into  the  future,  and  consider  what  shall 
be  the  fortune  and  what  the  feeling  of  those  who  shall  stand 
here  a  hundred,  or  two  hundred,  or  a  thousand  years  hence, 
to  celebrate  the  day — let  us  adopt  for  ourselves,  and  let  us 
pray  and  hope  and  labor,  that  all  our  children,  and  our 
children's  children,  and  their  children's  children  to  the  latest 
generation,  may  take  with  sincere  heartiness  for  their  own, 
the  language  of  good  old  John  Higginson  :  "If  any  man 
among  us  make  religion  as  twelve  and  the  world  as  thirteen, 
such  an  one  hath  not  the  spirit  of  a  true  New  England 
man!  " 

To  the  same  sentiment  Rev.  Wni.  H.  Cobb  of  Oxbridge, 
a  grandson  of  Rev.  Oliver  Cobb,  D.  D.,  responded  a»  fol- 
lows : 

Mr.  President  and  Friends  : — Let  me  call  back  your  atten- 
tion at  once  from  the  degenerate  sons  to  the  worthy  sires, 
the  early  ministers  of  Kochester. 

I- hold  in  my  hand  a  book  bearing  the  date  "London, 
1704,"  the  year  after  this  church  was  organised.  It  has 
come  down  to  me  partly  by  natural  descent  (for  it  was  my 
father's),  and  partly  by  ecclesiastical,  for  it  contains  the  fol- 
lowing note  over  the  signature  of  Jonathan  Moore  :  "Fin- 
ished the  fourth  reading  of  these  volumes,  Dec.  17th,  1812." 
Jonathan  Moore  was  then  73  years  old,  but  he  kept  up  his 
studious  habits,  as  the  manuscript  notes  in  this  volume  tes- 
tify. A  book  was  a  rare  thing  in  those  days ;  it  was  read 
and  re-read,  till  it  had  read  itself  into  the  mental  discipline 
of  the  reader ;  a  feat  not  always  accomplished  now  that 
books  are  as  plenty  as  blackberries.  This  particular  book, 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  103 

by  the  way,  is  the  second  volume  of  the  "Lives  of  the 
Fathers,"  "adorned"  (as  you  see)  "with  all  their  effigies  cu- 
riously Ingraven."  I  have  in  my  possession  another  book 
with  the  autograph:  "Jonathan  Moore,  1768,"  the  very 
year  he  was  settled  over  the  first  church  of  Rochester  as 
colleague  with  Timothy  Ruggles.  That  book  is  a  System  of 
Divinity  by  Isaac  Watts,  the  hymn-writer,  who  thus  taught 
our  ancestors  by  his  doctrine  as  well  as  his  songs.  The 
book  is  only  a  little  larger  than  this,  but  the  price  of  it  is 
$10  of  our  money.  No  wonder  they  read  them  four 
times. 

Let  us  go  over  our  two  centuries  in  two  steps.  Jonathan 
Moore  was  your  revolutionary  pastor.  A  hundred  years 
ago,  he  was  preaching  in  the  old  meeting-house  at  Roch- 
ester Centre,  and  he  preached  on  until  1792,  being  the  im- 
mediate predecessor  of  my  grandfather,  Dr.  Oliver  Cobb. 
But  we  must  go  a  hundred  years  further  back  to  find  the 
earliest  minister.  In  1683,  twenty  years  before  the  church 
was  formed,  and  three  years  before  Sippicau  was  incorpor- 
ated as  Rochester  in  the  county  of  Barustable,  we  find  here 
Rev.  Samuel  Shiverick,  whose  name  has  not  been  alluded 
to  by  the  previous  speakers.  Please  bear  in  mind  that  this 
was  before  Rochester  was  thought  of;  the  whole  territory 
from  Sandwich  to  Dartmouth,  twelve  miles  along  the  sea- 
coast  and  four  miles  inland,  was  "  Sepecan."  We  are  very 
familiar  with  the  story  of  the  exiled  Pilgrims,  the  Separ- 
atists of  England.  It  may  not  be  known  to  most  of  you, 
however,  that  two  streams  of  exile  met  here  in  old  Sippi- 
can,  for  Mr.  Shiverick  was  a  Huguenot.  Escaping  from 
Catholic  persecution  in  France,  he  came  to  this  spot,  where 
he  preached  from  1683  to  1687,  removing  then  to  Fal- 
mouth.  He  was  the  first  minister  of  the  latter  church,  and 
he  became  the  progenitor  of  all  the  persons  by  the  name 
of  Shiverick  who  have  ever  lived  on  Cape  Cod.  ("  This 


104  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENXIAL. 

highly  respectable  family,"  says  Mr.  Freeman  in  his  excel- 
lent history.) 

In  1687,  Samuel  Arnold  succeeded  him  and  preached 
here  twenty  years.  He  was  born  in  1649,  by  a  curious  co- 
incidence the  same  year  that  Sepecan  was  born,  that  being 
the  date  of  its  first  mention  in  Plymouth  Colony  records. 
His  father  was  Rev.  Samuel  Arnold  of  Marshfield.  Since  I 
came  to  this  grove  to-day,  I  have  been  informed  by  G.  W. 
Humphrey,  Esq.,  of  Rochester,  that  four  generations  of 
Samuel  Arnold's  descendants  are  now  living  in  one  house  in 
Rochester.  Mr.  Arnold  preached  here  sixteen  years  before 
he  could  form  a  church,  but  in  1703  the  following  entry  ap- 
pears in  the  old  church  records  :  "It  hath  pleased  our  gra- 
cious God  to  shine  in  this  dark  corner  of  this  wilderness, 
and  visit  this  dark  spot  of  ground  with  the  day-spring  from 
on  high,  through  his  tender  mercy,  and  to  settle  a  church 
according  to  the  order  of  the  gospel,  October  13th,  Anno 
Domini  1703." 

The  ancient  covenant  is  also  recorded.  It  closes  in  these 
words:  "  The  Lord  keep  this  forever  in  the  thoughts  and 
imaginations  of  the  hearts  of  us  his  poor  servants,  to  stab- 
lish  our  hearts  unto  him  ;  and  the  good  Lord  pardon  even- 
one  of  us  that  prepareth  his  heart  to  seek  the  Lord  God  of 
his  fathers.  Amen." 

The  difficulty  with  this  subject  of  the  early  ministers  of 
Rochester  is  to  know  where  to  draw  the  line.  Allusion  has 
been  made  to  the  fact  that  two  of  the  ministers  of  the  Sec- 
ond church  cover  by  their  pastorates  a  period  of  one  hun- 
dred years — half  the  entire  time  we  are  celebrating.  I 
would  call  attention  to  the  further  fact  that  the  united  pas- 
torates of  two  of  the  ministers  of  the  First  church  embrace 
108  years,  viz  :  Timothy  Ruggles  (1710-1768)  and  Oliver 
Cobb  (1799-1849).  You  see,  therefore,  that  it  becomes 
hard  to  distinguish  between  early  and  recent  ministers. 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENXIAL.  105 

Time  would  fail  me  to  tell  in  detail  of  Hovey  and  LeBarron 
in  Mattapoisett,  of  West  and  Chaddock  in  North  Roches- 
ter, of  Thacher  and  Cotton  in  Wareham.  But  let  me  close 
with  one  or  two  outlines  of  the  picture  that  might  be  drawn. 

You  have  heard  today,  and  the  world  has  heard,  of  Timo- 
thy Ruggles,  Jr.,  the  President  of  the  Stamp  Act  Congress, 
the  Tory  who  turned  against  his  country.  But  the  world  is 
ignorant  of  Timothy  Ruggles,  Sr.,  the  humble  minister  who 
stood  at  his  post  here  for  almost  60  years,  received  303  mem- 
bers into  the  church  of  Christ,  and  then  died  in  the  harness. 
And  yet,  my  friends,  I  would  rather,  and  you  would  rather, 
have  the  name  and  the  fame  of  that  father,  than  the  fame 
and  the  shame  of  his  son.  On  a  slatestone  slab  in  the  old 
cemetery  at  Rochester  Centre  is  the  following  inscription  : 
"In  memory  of  ye  Rev'd  Mr.  Timothy  Ruggles,  pastor  of 
ye  church  of  Christ  in  Rochester,  who  \vas  an  able  Divine 
and  a  Faithful  Minister.  Having  a  peculiar  talent  at  com- 
posing Differences  and  healing  Divisions  in  Churches,  he  was 
much  imployed  in  Ecclesiastical  Councils  and  having  spent 
his  Days  and  his  Strength  in  the  Work  of  his  Lord  and 
Master,  Finished  his  Course  with  Joy  and  departed  this 
Life  Octob'r  ye  26,  1768,  in  the  84th  year  of  his  age,  and 
58th  of  his  Ministry.  They,  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the 
Brightness  of  ye  Firmament,  and  they  that  turn  many  to 
Righteousness  as  ye  stars  for  ever  and  ever." 

I  conclude  with  an  incident  from  the  pen  of  Rev.  Thomas 
Noyes,  of  Needham,  published  in  the  American  Quarterly 
Register  for  Nov.  1835.  It.  relates  to  the  second  pastor  of 
the  Second  church  of  Rochester,  that  at  Mattapoisett.  , 

"  Mr.  LeBarron  has  retained  the  pastoral  office  more 
than  63  years,  and  continues  to  enjoy  the  affection  and  re- 
spect of  the  people  of  his  charge  ;  now  in  the  89th  year  of 
his  age,  yet  retaining  his  mental  powers  in  an  uncommon 
degree.  In  the  autumn  of  1832,  Thomas  Robbins  %was  in- 


106  KOCHESTER'S  BI-CENTEXXIAL. 

stalled  colleague  pastor.  The  venerable  LeBarron  retired 
from  his  public  labors,  but  could  not  cease  to  be  useful  to 
the  people  so  long  endeared  to  him.  Having  ceased  to  im- 
part public  instruction  to  the  sheep  of  the  flock,  he  now  de- 
votes himself  to  impart  divine  knowledge  to  the  lambs.  He 
is  the  superintendent  of  the  Sabbath  School,  and  takes  a 
lively  interest  in  promoting  its  spiritual  improvement.  His 
head  bleached  with  the  storms  of  life,  his  heavenly  mien, 
his  soft  and  mild  voice,  and  his  impressive  manner,  all  con- 
spire to  speak  his  worth,  and  give  weight  and  effect  to  the 
solemn  instructions  which  fall  from  the  lips  of  the  patri- 
arch. Never  had  the  writer  of  this  such  a  lively  view  of 
patriarchal  times  as  when  on  a  visit  to  this  venerable  and 
godly  man.  After  an  interview  of  several  hours,  the  part- 
ing of  hands  at  the  threshold  of  the  door  lingered  till  the 
mutual  tears  copiously  flowed,  and  the  voices  of  the  two 
strangers  who  had  never  before  met  together  were  suffo- 
cated till  they  could  hardly  give  utterance  to  their  thoughts 
and  feelings." 

Such  were  the  early  ministers  of  Rochester.  May  their 
influence" never  die. 

The  Eighth  Sentiment — "Our  Honored  Dead — whether 
sleeping  in  the  depths  of  the  sea,  in  soldiers'  graves,  or 
quietly  in  the  cemeteries  at  home."  Rev.  I.  C.  Thacher,  01 
Lakeville,  a  grandson  of  the  Rev.  Rowland  Thacher,  the 
first  ordained  minister  in  Wareham,  was  to  have  responded, 
but  was  unexpectedly  called  from  the  platform. 

The  Ninth  Sentiment — "The  Finances  and  Industries  ol 
Massachusetts."  Response  of  Edward  Atkinson,  Esq.,  ot 
Brookline. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — The  best  service 
I  can^render  you,  in  response  to  the  call  with  which  you 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  107 

have  honored  me,  is  to  remember  that  the  most  widely  cir- 
culated financial  speech  I  ever  made  was  never  spoken  ex- 
cept by  its  title,  and  I  shall  please  you  most  if  I  only  re- 
spond in  a  few  words  in  the  name  of  the  adopted  citizens  of 
Mattapoisett  and  of  other  parts  of  the  old  Town  of  Roch- 
ester. 

A  few  months  since,  a  gentleman  of  rny  own  name,  resid- 
ing in  Washington,  wrote  to  me  asking  what  branch  of  the 
Atkinson  family  I  belonged  to,  and  what  member  of  it  had 
become  distinguished.  I  was  then  forced  to  reply  that  I 
was  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  usual  three  brothers  who 
came  from  England  about  1640,  that  they  were  an  estimable 
family  so  far  as  I  knew,  and  only  one  had  become  distin- 
guished— he  was  made  a  Judge  ;  but  he  was  an  adopted  son. 
If  my  correspondent  should  address  me  now,  I  could  tell 
him  that  another  Atkinson  had  become  distinguished  by  be- 
ing adopted  by  Rochester  and  Mattapoisett,  and  chosen  to 
speak  to  you  at  this  time. 

We  have  listened  with  the  greatest  interest  to  the  remin- 
iscences of  this  old  town  and  it  is  right  that  the  birthday  of 
a  New  England  town  should  be  remembered.  It  is  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  towns  that  has  kept  the  old  Commonwealth 
tone  during  these  late  long  years  of  war,  of  trial,  of  loss 
and  of  depression. 

It  has  been  the  devotion  of  the  men  of  the  towns  to  their 
convictions  of  right  and  duty,  that  marked  them  in  the  days 
of  the  Revolution,  whether  they  were  patriot  or  tory.  We 
can  recognize  this  quality  now,  when  we  listen  as  we  have 
today  to  the  anecdotes  of  the  tory  Ruggles  or  of  the  patriot 
who  opposed  him. 

It  has  been  the  right  conviction  of  the  men  of  the  towns 
of  Massachusetts  that  has  made  her  financial  record  what  it 
has  been ;  that  has  caused  her  to  pay  her  debts  in  the  best 
and  truest  dollars  she  could  obtain  of  coined  gold.  It  is 


108  ROCHESTER'S    BI-CENTENNIAL. 

this  that  has  placed  her  in  the  van  and  made  her  the  leader 
of  this  nation,  to  the  end  that  our  country  is  the  first  among 
the  nations  of  the  world  that  ever  issued  a  paper  promise  of 
a  dollar,  made  it  legal  tender,  and  yet  redeemed  it  in  coin 
without  depreciation  or  repudiation. 

This  is  what  the  representatives  of  the  towns  of  Massa- 
chusetts have  taught  the  cities  to  do,  and  it  is  well  that  we 
should  cherish  every  memory,  as  we  have  to-day,  that  shall 
lead  us  to  maintain  the  town  governments  of  New7  England. 

Again,  in  the  name  of  the  adopted  citizens  of  this  noble 
old  town,  I  thank  you  for  the  honor  you  have  done  me  and 
them,  in  calling  upon  me  to  respond  at  this  time  and  in  this 
piace. 

The  Tenth  Sentiment — "The  Aborigines, — once  the 
rightful  owners  of  the  soil ;  we  should  cherish  the  few  who 
remain  with  us  in  a  careful  and  Christian  spirit,"  Response 
of  Gen.  Ebenezer  W.  Pierce  of  Freetown. 

Mr.  President,  Friends  and  Citizens  : — It  is  with  no  ordin- 
ary degree  of  pleasure  and  satisfaction  that  I  am  enabled  to 
be  present  here  today  and  to  participate  with  you  in  a 
proper  observance  of  this  the  two  hundredth  anniversary  of 
the  European  settlement  of  the  time-honored  town  of  Roch- 
ester, in  the  history  of  which  I  have  and  for  at  least  a  quarter 
of  a  century  have  had  a  deep,  a  great  and  an  abiding  in- 
terest. This  day,  therefore,  happy  as  it  is  to  me  with  its 
pleasant  scenes  and  agreeable  associations,  is  not  the  birth- 
day of  the  lively  interest  that  I  have  and  feel  in  this  locality 
and  the  true  story  of  its  present  people  and  past  inhabitants. 
For  more  than  twenty  years  last  passed,  such  has  been  rny 
desire  to  possess  myself  with  a  true  and  full  knowledge  of 
the  persons  and  places,  the  story  of  which  embraces  your  lo- 
cal history,  that  I  have  not  been  content  to  examine  printed 
books  that  contain  brief  sketches  either  of  the  one  or  the 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL,  109 

other  or  of  both  combined,  but  have  extended  ray  researches 
further  and  given  a  close  scrutiny,  careful  and  prolonged 
study  to  manuscripts  on  file  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of 
State,  at  Boston,  to  those  in  the  public  archives  of  the  coun- 
ty, to  town  records,  church  and  parish  records,  private  accum- 
ulations that  are  treasured  with  jealous  care  by  their  posess- 
ors,  as  also  those  neglected  and  almost  forgotten,  lying  in 
lumber  rooms,  sky  parlors  and  garrets,  and  last,  though  by 
no  means  least,  your  numerous  and  ancient  cemeteries,' 
where  tables  of  stones  covered  with  the  dust  of  many  years 
of  neglect  that  was  prolific  of  thick  coatings  of  moss,  were 
by  patient  labor  made  to  reveal  hidden  and  long  forgotten 
facts  that  but  for  the  scraping  of  moss  would  have  continued 
to  have  been  as  effectually  obscured  from  the  mind  and 
memory  of  mankind  as  are  the  "  lost  arts."  I  am  glad,  yes 
heartily  srlad,  that  you  as  communities  and  as  a  people  have 
become  so  thoroughly  awakened  to  the  importance  of  your 
history,  and  are  actuated  by  the  zeal  therein,  that  this  great 
gathering,  this  intelligent  and  attentive  audience  gives 
the  most  conclusive  evidence  of. 

Allow  me,  friends,  to  congratulate  you  upon  the  fortunate 
selection  that  you  have  made  in  the  orator  of  this  day.  You 
are  indeed  fortunate  to  possess  such  an  one.  Your  "old,  old 
story  "  great,  good  and  grand  as  it  is,  has  lost  nothing  from 
his  lips  or  pen.  His  production  will  be  a  source  of  joy  to 
your  children  and  childrens'  children,  and  wherever  and 
whenever  read  will  be,  as  it  justly  ought  to  be,  an  honor  to 
him. 

Though  doing  what  I  have  never  known  to  have  been 
done  before  on  an  occasion  of  this  kind,  your  committee 
have  nevertheless  done  well  to  invite  to  this  entertainment, 
this  feast  of  reason  and  flow  of  soul,  living  representatives 
of  the  nationality  and  people  that  possessed  this  goodly 
Land  before  our  Pilgrim  fathers  came  hither.  And  we  are 


110  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL. 

thus  enabled  to  see,  to  look  upon,  question  uud  hold  con- 
verse with  the  lineal  descendants  of  those  who  for  thousands 
of  years,  for  aught  we  know,  here  lived,  moved  and  had  a 
being,  swaying  unquestioned  and  unobstructed  the  sceptre 
of  power,  true  representatives  of  pre-historic  centuries  and 
pre-historic  man. 

At  the  date  of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrim  fathers  in  Ply- 
mouth, now  more  than  two  centuries  and  a  half  ago,  the 
Indian  inhabitants  of  a  large  part  of  what  is  now  known  as 
New  England,  together  with  no  inconsiderable  portions  of 
the  present  State  of  New  York,  were  ruled  by  two  Indian 
Kings,  viz.  Ousamequin  and  Sassacus. 

Ousamequin  shortly  after  came  to  be  called  Massasoit, 
and  by  the  white  people  was  denominated  "good  old  Mas- 
sasoit" while  to  Sassacus  they  applied  the  appellation  of 
"  the  terrible."  Massasoit  was  loved,  honored  and  obeyed 
by  his  people,  who  then  occupied  what  is  now  the  counties 
of  Barnstable,  Bristol,  Plymouth,  Dukes  and  Nantucket, 
together  with  a  large  part  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island  on 
the  main  land  and  th«  islands  contiguous.  Such  were  the 
dimensions  of  the  lordly  domains  of  the  great  and  good 
Massasoit — good  not  only  in  the  estimate  of  his  people,  but 
by  his  exemplary  and  unexceptionable  conduct,  forcing  the 
white  people  to  acknowledge  his  just  claim  to  the  commenda- 
tory title  of  good.  And  hence,  from  the  pens  of  those  who 
were  no  real  friends  to  him,  or  to  his  people,  we  learn  that 
he  was  "  Massasoit  the  Good." 

These  Indians,  of  what  is  now  the  entire  State  of  Connec- 
ticut, all  of  Long  Island  with  probably  a  part  of  Eastern 
New  York  and  a  portion  of  Western  Massachusetts,  togeth- 
er with  the  small  islands  in  Long  Island  Sound  and  New 
York  harbor,  were  the  subjects  of  King  Sassacus,  or  he  who 
early  European  writers  characterized  as  "  Sassacus  the  terri- 
ble," for  to  the  pioneer  white  settlers  he  was  appalling, 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  Ill 

such  was  his  great  strength  of  power  and  extended  influence, 
such  the  number  of  his  warriors  ready  to  follow  him  upon 
the  war  path,  and  such  the  jealousy  with  which  he  regarded 
white  men.  Two  mighty  potentates  were  Massasoit  the 
good  and  Sassacus  the  terrible.  Their  people  were  numer- 
ous, their  dominions  extensive,  their  warriors  many.  But  a 
word,  one  single  word  from  Massasoit  or  from  Sassacus,  was 
all  sufficient  to  have  cut  off,  destroyed  and  wholly  extermin- 
ated the  Pilgrim  fathers  at  the  date  of  their  tirst  landing  in 
America.  Had  Massasoit  and  Sassacus  agreed  as  touching 
one  thing,  and  that  thing  the  destruction  of  European  emi- 
grants to  New  England  and  the  latter  even  after  having 
gained  a  foothold,  a  possession  of  considerable  tracts  of 
country  and  reinforced  their  numbers  here,  would. have  been 
utterly  destroyed  root  and  branch,  so  that  no  trace  of  them 
would  have  remained,  no  one  of  their  number  left  to  repeat 
the  dismal  tale.  To  the  kindness  of  Massasoit  more  than 
to  any  other  one  cause,  and  indeed  more  than  to  all  other 
causes  combined,  did  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  owe  their  success 
in  the  attempt  to  settle  a  European  colony  in  the  New  Eng- 
land portions  of  North  America. 

Massasoit  and  Sassacus  were  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
kings,  and  the  kingdom  of  each  was  made  up  of  quite  a 
large  number  of  Indian  tribes,  each  of  which  was  under  the 
direct  supervision  and  lead  of  a  sub  chief  or  sachem,  who 
owed  allegiance  to  his  king. 

Tuspaquin,  who  in  history  is  not  unfrequently  met  with 
under  the  title  of  "  the  Black  Sachem,"  was  one  of  the  sub- 
chiefs  of  Massasoit,  whose  daughter  Amie  he  took  to  wife 
and  thus  became,  as  we  reckon  relationships,  a  son-in-law 
of  Massasoit,  and  a  brother-in-law  to  Wamsutta  alias  Alex- 
ander and  to  Pometacom  alias  King  Philip,  both  of  whom  in 
turn  were  the  successors  of  their  father  Massasoit  as  kings 
or  chief  rulers  of  the  Wampanoag  tribes  or  nation. 


112  ROCHESTER'S   BI-CENTENNIAL. 

Another  Indian,  of  scarcely  less  notoriety  in  early  Xc\v  Eng- 
land history  was  Wassamon,  who  came  more  generally  to 
be  known  as  John  Sassamon.  This  NVassassamon,  or  John 
Sassamon,  originated  in  what  became  the  English  township 
of  Dorchester,  not  long  since  annexed  to  the  city  of  Boston, 
and  his  love  for  the  white  people  led  him  to  leave  the  homes 
and  associations  of  his  "kith  and  kin,"  and  to  take  up  his 
residence  with  the  English,  whose  school  or  college  at  Cam- 
bridge (now  Harvard  University )  he  was  permitted  to  enter 
as  a  student,  and  to  whose  religion  he  professed  to  have  be- 
come converted.  In  the  first  great  conflict  between  races 
that  occurred  in  1637,  or  what  is  now  generally  spoken  of 
as  the  "  Pequot  War,"  John  Sassamon  accompanied  the 
Massachusetts  troops  to  Connecticut,  and  there  aided  the 
united  forces  of  Massachusetts,  Plymouth  and  Connecticut 
colonies  in  making  war  upon  Sassacuss  and  his  followers  ;  a 
war  that  resulted  in  the  destruction  of  nearly  all  the  war- 
riors of  the  latter,  and  by  which  the  power  ot  the  Pequots 
was  once  and  forever  broken,  fully  and  finally  destroyed. 

On  the  principle  that  "to  the  victors  belong  the  spoils," 
our  pious  forefathers  sent  to  the  island  of  Bermuda  and  sold 
as  slaves  the  male  children  of  the  conquered  Pequots,  scat- 
tered the  women  and  female  children  of  that  destroyed  na- 
tion among  the  families  of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut  and 
Plymouth  Colonies,  where  they  were  regarded  and  treated 
as  servants. 

In  common  with  the  white  conquerors,  John  Sassamon, 
their  red  ally,  was  allowed  to  select  from  among  the  female 
captives  a  servant,  which  privilege  he  exercised  by  taking  a 
little  Indian  maid,  a  daughter  of  King  Sassacus,  which  little 
maid  John  Sassamon  made  his  wife,  and  from  that  marriage 
union  resulted  the  daughter  "  Assawetough,"  who  the  whites 
called  "Betty"  or  "Squaw  Betty,"  and  some  portion  of 
whose  former  princely  inheritance  in  lands  are  called  "Bet- 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CEXTENNIAL.  113 

ty's  Neck"  in  Lakeville,  and  "Squaw   Betty"   in  Tauntou 
and  Raynham  to  this  day. 

Some  time  between  the  close  of  the  "Pequot  War,"  1637, 
and  the  commencement  of  "King  Philip's  War,"  in  1675, 
John  Sassamon  was  settled  as  a  Christian  missionary  to  the 
Assawomset  and  Xemasket  Indians,  having  his  home  at 
what  is  now  called  Betty's  Neck,  in  Lakeville,  where  Tispa- 
quin,  chief  of  the  Assawomsets  and  Nemaskets,  for  Sassa- 
mon's  encouragement  in  prosecuting  the  work  of  the  gos- 
pel ministry,  conferred  upon  the  latter  liberal  bestowments 
of  lands  that  Sassamon  was  occupying  at  the  date  of  his 
death. 

>:issamon  was  slain  by  the  Indians  for  having  taken  part 
with  the  white  people  against  his  own  countrymen,  in  those 
troubles  that  preceded  and  eventually  brought  on  that  blood- 
iest and  most  desolating  of  all  New  England  conflicts,  and 
now  known  in  history  as  King  Philip's  war. 

The  hanging  upon  a  gallows  of  two  Indians  at  Plymouth, 
convicted  of  murdering  John  Sassason  and  secreting  his 
dead  body  under  the  ice  of  Assamomset  pond,  hastened  on 
that  war,  and  when  it  had  ended  to  the  advantage  of  the 
white  men  and  utter  discomfiture  of  the  Indians,  Plymouth 
Colony  court  in  acknowledgement  of  indebtedness  to  John 
Sassamon,  and  in  gratitude  to  his  memory  who  had  laid 
down  his  life  in  behalf  of  that  and  other  European  settle- 
ments in  New  England,  by  legislative  enactment,  secured 
and  confirmed  to  an  Indian  named  Felix,  the  husband  of 
Assawetough,  and  as  a  consequence  the  son-in-law  of  John 
Sassamon,  all  the  lands  that  had  been  the  property  of  said 
John  Sassamon,  deceased,  whether  at  Betty's  Neck  or  else- 
where, within  the  limits  of  Plymouth  Colony.  This  Indian 
Felix  had  also  quite  large  tracts  of  land  that  had  been  con- 
veyed to  him  by  deeds  from  the  Sachem  Tuspaquin  prior  to 
the  date  of  King  Philip's  war,  and  as  Felix  took  part  with 
H 


114  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTEXNIAL. 

the  English  in  that  war,  his  title  to  the  same  remained  un- 
disturbed. 

This  friendly  Indian  Felix  and  wife  Assawetough  had  a 
daughter  named  Mercy  Felix,  who  became  the  wife  of  Ben- 
jamin Tuspaquin,  a  grandson  of  Tuspaquin  the  Black  Sachem 
so-called,  chief  of  the  Assamomset  and  Xemasket  Indians, 
and  great  grandson  of  King  Massasoit.  Benjamin  Tuspa- 
quin and  wife  Mercy  Felix  had  an  only  child,  a  daughter 
named  Lydia,  in  whom  was  united  the  blood  of  King  Mas- 
sasoit, King  Sassacus,  of  the  sub-chief  Tuspaquin,  and  of 
the  educated,  christianized,  martyred  Indian,  John  Sassa- 
mon.  To  be  a  little  more  explicit,  Lydia  Tuspaquin  was  in 
lineal  descent,  a  great  great  granddaughter  of  King  Massa- 
soit,  and  she  was  also  a  great  great  granddaughter  of  King ' 
Sassacus,  a  great  granddaughter  of  Tuspaquin,  chief  of  the 
Assawamset  and  Nemasket  Indians,  and  a  great  granddaugh- 
ter of  John  Sassaraon  ;  and  we  will  add  that  Lydia  was  also 
grandniece  to  two  other  Indian  Kings,  viz :  Wamsutta  alias 
Alexander,  and  Pometacom  alias  King  Philip. 

This  Lydia  Tuspaquin  married  an  Indian  named  Wamsley, 
and  their  daughter  Phebe,  born  Feb.  26th,  1770,  married  an 
Indian  named  Brister  Gould,  the  fruit  of  which  marriage 
was  a  daughter  Zerviah  Gould,  who  married  Thomas  C. 
Mitchell,  and  is  the  aged  Indian  woman  here  present  toda}'. 
She  was  boru  July  24th,  1807,  married  Oct.  17th,  1824, 
Thomas  C.  Mitchell,  who  was  of  mixed  blood,  part  English 
ana  part  Cherokee  Indian.  He  died  March  22d,  1859,  and 
Mrs.  Mitchell  for  more  than  a  score  of  years  has  remained  a 
widow. 

Her  two  daughters,  here  upon  the  stage,  are  of  a  family 
of  eleven  children,  three  sons  and  eight  daughters,  of  whom 
one  son  and  five  daughters  survive  ;  two  sons  and  three 
daughters  are  dead. 


KOCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  115 

The  Eleventh  Sentiment — "Sons  and  Daughters  of  Roch- 
ester, not  resident  in  the  Old  Township,  who  are  here  to 
take  part  in  this  celebration."  Response  of  Hon.  Charles 
J.  Holmes  of  Fall  River,  a  former  resident -of  the  town  of 
Rochester,  and  a  grandson  of  Hon.  Abraham  Holmes. 

Mr.  Holmes  said  the  name  of  the  Orator  of  the  Day 
brought  up  profitable  and  proud  thoughts, — Noble  Warren 
Everett.  The  genius  of  old  Rochester  has  risen  up  to-day 
to  listen  to  the  deeds  of  the  past.  He  recently  had  been 
reading  the  writings  of  his  grandfather,  Abraham  Holmes, 
on  the  men  of  his  time  and  town. 

His  grandfather  noted  the  events  of  importance  as  they 
occurred,  and  his  account  of  the  proceedings  in  Rochester 
on  the  tea  question  is  as  follows  : 

The  town  ot  Boston  sent  letters  to  all  the  towns  in  Mas- 

i 

sachusetts,  requesting  them  to  call  town  meetings  and  agree 
and  advise  what  was  best  to  be  done.  Meetings  were  gen- 
erally, if  not  universally,  held.  The  proceedings  were  gen- 
erally very  spirited.  In  Rochester,  the  meeting  was  very 
free.  But  as  the  business  was  new,  and  very  serious  conse- 
quences might  flow  from  the  proceedings ;  and  as  an  open 
opposition  to  the  government  might  be  considered  as  dan- 
gerous, the  people  generally  thought  it  was  the  better  way 
to  proceed  with  due  caution.  The  town  clerk  (David 
Wing)  for  some  reason  thought  it  best  to  stay  at  home. 
The  meeting  opened,  and  Joseph  Haskell,  3d,  was  chosen 
town  clerk  pro  tern.  Deacon  Sylvanus  Cobb  was  chosen 
moderator.  He  was  quite  an  old  man,  and  seldom,  if  ever, 
attended  a  town-meeting.  He  took  his  seat  and  read  the 
warrant,  and  as  nobody  wished  to  break  the  ice,  perfect  si- 
lence continued  for  about  fifteen  minutes,  when  N.  Rug- 
gles,  Esq.,  arose  and  asked  the  moderator  what  method  was 
proposed  to  proceed  in.  The  moderator  said  as  this  was  a 
solemn  occasion,  he  thought  it  would  be  proper  to  com- 


116  ROCHESTER'S  BI-CEXTENXIAL. 

mence  the  business  by  an  humble  address  by  prayer  for  di- 
rection in  so  critical  and  important  an  occasion.  Justice  Rug- 
gles  replied  there  was  no  article  in  the  warrant  for  pr.iyer, 
and  the  law  forbid  the  acting  on  anything  for  which  there 
was  no  article  in  the  warrant.  The  moderator  said  he  was 
astonished  to  hear  such  an  observation  come  from  Justice 
Ruggl.es.  Haggles  said,  "  Not  more  astonished  than  1  a:n 
to  see  your  honor  in  that  seat."  After  some  observations, 
Ruggles  said  if  there  must  he  prayer,  he  hoped  it  would 
not  be  by  Mr.  Moore,  for  he  had  heard  so  much  of  his  pray- 
ing on  Sunday  that  he  could  not  bear  to  hear  it  on  a  week 
day  ;  for  that  man  had  done  more  hurt  in  Rochester  than 
he  ever  did  or  ever  would  or  ever  could  do  good.  The 
moderator  was  about  making  some  reply,  when  Mr.  Moore 
arose,  and  said  he  "wished  to  have  an  oppportunity.to  re- 
turn his  humble  and  respectful  thanks  for  the  great  and  sin- 
gular honor  that  the  gentleman  last  up  had  done  him.  For 
if  any  man  was  to  contrive  to  bestow  the  highest  possible 
panegyric  on  me,  he  could  not  do  it  any  way  so  effectually 
as  to  get  that  man  to  speak  reproachfully  of  me." 

On  motion,  it  was  voted  to  have  a  prayer  by  Mr.  Moore. 
He  stepped  into  the  moderator's  seat  and  said  that  previous 
to  his  addressing  the  Throne  of  Grace  he  would  make  a  few 
preliminary  observations.  That  as  to  prayer,  he  had  long 
been  of  opinion  that  that  gentleman  was  in  general  no  friend 
of  prayer;  yet,  he  did  not  believe  he  would  have  come  for- 
ward in  open  town  meeting  and  have  sarcastically  and  con- 
temptuously opposed  it,  if  he  had  not  have  had  a  strong 
suspicion  that  what  would  be  prayed  for  would  have  been  in 
opposition  to  the  strong  bent  of  the  inclinations  and  wishes 
of  his  depraved  and  wicked  heart.  He  then  proceeded  with 
his  prayer.  Perhaps  Mr.  Moore  never  felt  more  pleasing 
sensations  than  he  did  in  the  course  of  this  prayer  ;  though 
some  people  might  doubt  of  the  prayer's  being  so  strongly 


ROCHESTER'S  BI-CENTENNIAL.  117 

seasoned  with  humility  as  that  of  Hezekiah  after  the  mes- 
sage brought  by  Isaiah.  After  the  prayer,  the  meeting 
went  into  the  consideration  of  the  business,  and  passed  a 
number  of  spirited  resolutions,  and  subscribed  what  was 
called  a  solemn  league  and  covenant  to  abstain  from  the  use 
of  tea,  and  to  transact  no  business  with  those  who  would 
not  become  parties  to  the  covenant. 

One  gentleman  from  Dartmouth^  attended,  and  though  he 
did  not  presume  to  act  in  the  town  meeting,  yet  he  made 
himself  very  busy  out  of  doors.  At  last  he  began  to  think 
that  his  safety  required  him  to  go  home.  He  departed,  but 
Seth  Barlow7  took  a  horse  and  with  a  hunting  whip  followed 
him  more  than  a  mile  ;  overtook  and  applied  the  whip  to  his 
shoulders  and  back  with  great  energy.  The  whole  town 
were  very  wrell  agreed  in  opposing  the  British  claims.  Only 
six  persons  were  willing  to  submit  to  the  trans-Atlantic 
claims.  But  after  open  hostilities  had  commenced  they  all 
submitted  to  the  public  will. 

• 

CONCLUSION. 

The  vast  concourse  of  people  joined  with  the  choir  in  the 
singing  of  "Praise  God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow,"  and 
the  official  ceremonies  of  the  Rochester  Bi-Centeunial  cele- 
bration came  to  an  end.  May  our  posterity  at  the  next 
centennial  have  as  much  reason  to  rejoice,  and  as  many,  and 
as  good  friends  to  reciprocate  the  joy  with  them,  as  we  have 
had  at  this. 


APPENDIX. 


CORRESPONDENCE . 

Among  the  many  interesting  communications  received  by 
the  committee  was  the  following  from  Prof.  Bickmore  ; 

American  Museum  of  Natural  History. 

New  York,  July  14,  1879. 

A.  W.  BISBEE,  ESQ., 

Sec'y  200th  Anniversary  of  Rochester : 

Dear  Sir, — I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  polite 
invitation  to  be  present  at  the  interesting  ceremonies  to  be  held  at 
Marion,  commemorating  the  Bi-Centennial  Anniversary  of  the  settle- 
ment of  the  township  of  Rochester,  and  I  have  been  keeping  your  letter 
before  me  with  the  purpose  of  so  arranging  my  duties  as  to  allow  me 
the  pleasure  of  witnessing  your  celebration,  but  not  having  yet  been 
able  to  do  so  I  forward  this  acknowledgment  of  your  kindness  in  invit- 
ing me. 

I  should  come  with  the  desire  of  manifesting,  by  leaving  other  duties, 
the  high  appreciation  in  which  I  hold  whatever  pertains  to  the  early 
settlers  of  the  Bay  State,  whose  devotion  to  the  cause  of  public  educa- 
tion led  them  to  erect  the  log  school-house,  the  beginning  and  the  foun- 
dation of  all  the  higher  culture  which  we  at  the  distance  of  two  centu- 
turies  are  now  privileged  to  enjoy. 

I  admire  the  spirit  which  prompts  an  acknowledgment  of  the  great 
debt  we  owe  to  the  early  settlers  of  your  State,  and  I  most  heartily  join 
you  in  paying  homage  to  their  memory. 
Very  truly  yours, 

ALBERT  S.  BICKMORE. 


I2U  APPEN7DIX. 

The  following  letter  was.  received  by  the  President  of  the 
Day  from  the  Past-Mayor  and  present  Recorder  of  the 
Borough  of  Ware  ham  in  England  : 

WAUEIIAM.  DORSET,  ENGLAND,  > 
9th  July.  1879.      5 

Dt'ir  Sir :— I  am  grateful  for  your  kind  and  courteous  invitation  of  the 
2Gth  ultimo,  to  the  anniversary  of  the  first  settlement  by  the  English  at 
your  interesting-  place,  and  I  regret  much  that  it  will  not  be  in  my  power 
to  accept  it.  My  friend,  Mr.  Thomas  Lean  Ske\ves,  this  year's  Mayor, 
is  at  present  on  a  tour  in  Cornwall,  but  I  know  he  will  be  equally  grati- 
fied to  have  received  your  invitation,  although  I  do  not  expect  he  will  be 
able  to  avail  himself  of  it.  1  am  very  pleased  indeed  that  pleasant  re- 
membrances of  our  old  town  are  retained,  and  I  hope  that  you  may  live 
to  revisit  it.  I  am  asked  how  your  town  came  to  be  called  Wareham. 
but  am  unable  to  answer.  I  do  not  understand  from  you  that  any  settlers 
went  out  from  here  and  founded  Wareham  in  Massachusetts.  Ourfown 
dates  back  to  the  old  Saxon  age  —  before  the  Norman  conquest.  With 
best  wishes  for  the  prosperous  direction  of  this  anniversary  festival. 
I  am,  dear  sir,  very  faithfully  yours, 

FKEKLAXD  FILLITER. 


The  following  was  received  since  the  celebration  occurred  : 

ELM  HOUSE,  WATCEHAM,  DORSET,  EXG., 
August,  1879. 

To  Gerard  C.  Toliey.  Esquire,  Wareham.  Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 

Dear  Sir: — Absence  on  a  tour  through  the  west  of  England  when 
your  courteous  invitation  reached  this  borough  'for  me  as  Mayor  to  visit 
the  town  of  Wareham,  in  Massachusetts,  and  attend  the  celebration  of 
the  Rochester  bi-centennial  on  the  22d  ultimo,  must  be  my  apology  for 
not  acknowledging  the  receipt  of.  and  most  cordially  thanking  3^011  for 
the  same.  Our  respected  recorder,  F.  Filliter,  Esq.,  ha-  given  me  to  un- 
derstand that  he  wrote  to  you  at  the  time,  intimating  that  it  would  be  im- 
possiblc  for  himself  or  for  me  to  undertake  the  journey  just  then.  *  *  * 
I  trust  the  festival,  now  an  event  of  the  past,  proved  a  success  in  every 
sense  of  the  word,  and  that  it  will  continue  to  exert  an  influence  for 
good  by  cementing  indissoluble  bonds  of  friendship  and  unity.  Here, 
in  our  ancient  borough,  we  lack  marble  statues,  ornamental  architecture 
and  gorgeous  temples,  yet  we  have  royal  ruins,  antiquated  fortifications, 
Roman  roads,  and  other  relics  interesting  to  the  lover  of  antiquities. 
Many  pleasing  historical  events  are  associated  with  this  town  and  neigh- 
borhood, so  that  in  reading  of  the  gr:\.nd  fetes  around  us  our  thoughts  ir- 


APPENDIX.  121 

repressibly  turn  toward  the  past  and  conjure  to  our  imaginations  the 
:nen  of  j'ore  who  took  prominent  parts  in  the  drama  of  life.  I  hope  a 
bright  future  is  before  the  Wareham  of  the  Xe\v  World,  and  that  many 
of  her  sons  will  rise  to  eminence  and  distinction  in  that  great  and  distin- 
guished country  to  which  you  belong. 

K'p dly  accept  my  hearty  thanks  for  your  invitation,  and  1113'  best 
wishes  that  every  blessing  may  fall  on  yon  and  yours;  and  believe  me, 
di.-ar  sir.  yours  faithfully. 

THOS.  LEAK  SKEWES. 

Mayor  of  \Varchain. 


DAUGHTERS    OF    THE    FOREST. 

The  aged  Indian  woman,  Mrs.  Zerviah  Gould  Mitchell  and 
her  daughters  Tewelema  and  Woontoiiekanuske,  late  of 
Xorth  Ahington,  but  now  residing  upon  the  Indian  reserve 
lands  at  ''Betty's  Neck,"  so  called,  in  Lakeville,  were  among 
the  guests  at  the  celebration.  The  daughters  were  richly 
dressed  in  Indian  costumes,  in  the  st}-le  of  their  ancestors 
two  hundred  years  ago,  the  groundwork  of  the  dress  of 
one  being  a  sky  blue,  and  the  other  an  orange  color.  One 
was  heavily  surmounted  with  white  beads,  and  the  other 
with  white  shells ;'  arms  set  off  with  fine  bracelets,  and 
necks  hung  with  necklaces  of  different  colored  beads.  One 
daughter  wore  a  cap  curiously  constructed  of  partridge- 
feathers  surmounted  with  beads,  and  the  other,  a  head 
dress  of  scarlet  cloth,  ingeniously  worked  with  white  beads, 
and  surmounted  with  a  single  tall,  drooping  white  feather. 
Their  lower  limbs  were  encased  with  highly,  ornamented 
cloth  and  deerskin,  and  feet  in  richly  wrought  moccasins. 
The  old  lady  appeared  in  her  usual  European  costume  of 
black. 

Portraits  of  the  two  daughters  will  be  found  in  another 
part  of  this  volume. 

H2 


122  APPENDIX. 

A    SCRAP   OF   HISTORY. 

At  a  Great  and  General  Court  for  her  Majesty's  Province 
of  Massachusetts  Ba}'  in  New  England,  began  and  held  at 
Boston,  upon  Wednesday,  the  28th  day  of  May,  1707,  and 
continued  by  prorogations  until  Wednesday  the  29th  day  of 
October  following,  by  their  session  : 

In  Council — The  following  orders  were  passed  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  upon  the  petition  of  the  town 
of  Rochester  praying  to  be  annexed  to  the  County  of  Ply- 
mouth. Read  and  concurred  in. 

Ordered — That  the  the  prayer  of  the  petition  be  granted  ; 
rates  already  assessed  on  the  County  of  Barnstable  to  be 
paid  there  ;  and  that  for  the  future  that  they  be  annexed  to 
the  County  of  Plymouth,  any  usage  or  custom  to  the  con- 
trary notwithstanding. 

ISAAC  ADDINGTON,  Secretary. 
Transcribed  Dec.  31,  1824,  per  Abrarn  Holmes,  T.  Clerk. 


Dr.  William  Whitridge  was  a  native  of  Rochester.     He 
practiced  his  profession  in  New  Bedford  for  many  years. 


APPENDIX.  123 

"MINISTER  ROCK;" 

A    MEMORIAL    POEM,    BY    SIMEON    TUCKER    CLARK,    M.    D. 

.    I. 
Devotion,  like  the  ivjT,  loves  to  cling 

To  all  things  ancient.     With  uplifted  hands. 
Adoring  some  imperishable  thing, 

It  finds  a  deity,  in  suns  or  sands. 
The  worship  of  Jehovah,  long  ago, 

Raised  to  his  praise,  huge  altars  built  of  stone. 
Which  flaming  red.  with  sacrificial  glow. 

Burned  night  and  day,  and  ever  to  atone. 

II. 

Now  in  the  fullness  of  prophetic  days. 

Since  Christ — The  Prince  of  Peace — began  His  reign  ; 
The  sons  of  men  have  never  ceased  to  raise 

The  pictured  temple  and  the  sculptured  fane. 
And,  when  the  Pilgrims,  on  the  tortuous  way 

From  Wankinco's.  or  Weweantit's  source, 
First  found  the  sounding  shores  of  Buzzard's  Bay, 

They  praised  the  Power,  which  led  them  on  their  course. 

III. 

On  Minister  Rock  they  stood,  and.  as  they  gazed 

Upon  the  white-caps,  sailing  out  to  sea, 
Their  prayerful  souls  to  heaven  devoutly  raised. 

They  praised  the  Lord  for  Christian  liberty. 
And,  as  the}*  sang:  '••The  hill  of  Zion  yields" 

To  contrite  souls,  "A  thousand  sacred  sweets  ;" 
The  fragrant  marshes  seemed  like  ^'heavenly  fields ;" 

The  yellow  sedges  glowed  like  •'•golden  streets." 

IV. 

The  wandering  wind  had  healing  in  its  breath. 

Distilled  from  cedar,  pine  and  spicy  birch; 
The  sea  had  saving  salt;  nor  second  death 

Itself  could  fright  a  member  of  the  church. 
In  ages  past,  the  servants  of  the  Lord 

Were  glad  to  seek  the  shadow  of  a  rock ; 
Here,  \va*  the  ponderous  substance,  to  reward 

These  scions  of  a  puritanic  stock. 


124  APPENDIX. 

V. 

To  guard  them  from  the  tempter's  subtle  wiles. 

Unceasingly  our  fathers  worshipped  God ; 
But.  when  the  Sabbath  dawned,  those  long  church-ai.-les- 

Tiie  paths  which  led  to  Minister  Rock— they  trod. 
And.  even  now.  I  fancy  when  I  hear 

The  pine-trees  chanting  a  melodious  stave. 
The  melody  of  Sherburne,  or  of  Mear, 

Is  echoed  from  the  land  beyond  the  grave. 


VI. 

This  was  the  Sinai  of  that  pilgrim  race. 

For  here  they  heard  the  thunders  of  the  Law  ; 
And.  while  they  worshipped  in  their  holy  place. 

Their  love  for  God.  they  measured  by  their  awe. 
Here  wa>  their  Horeb;  when  they  were  athirst 

For  draughts  of  grace,  some  mighty-man-of-pra\ -or 
On  this  proud  summit,  bade  the  fountain  burst. 

And  living  waters  banished  sin  and  care. 


VII. 
How  beautiful  for  situation  stands 

The  Minister  Rock,  not  Joppa's  fortress  gray. 
N"or  Babylon's  gardens,  (wonder  of  all  lands.) 

\Vere  ever  kissed  by  mists  from  Buzzard's  Bay. 
duple  at  Jerusalem,  each  morn, 
Glowed  crimson  in  the  orient  sun-god's  ray  : 
But  Minister  Rock  stands  draped  in  vesture,  bora 
Of  fleecy  fogs  that  float  from  Buzzard's  Bay. 


VIII. 

The  bellowing  tides,  beyond  Bird-Island-Light. 

May  battle,  wave  with  wave,  in  tierce  afl'ray. 
But  like  tame,  herded  kine,  at  fall  of  night. 

They  find  a  friendly  fold,  in  Buzzard's  Buy. 
Oh!  Minister  Rock,  two  hundred  years  of  change 

Have  left  no  impress  on  thy  granite  breast; 
The  screaming  sea-gulls  still  around  thee  range, 

And.  in  thy  shadows,  still  the  sparrows  nest. 


I 

APPENDIX.  125 

IX. 

Thou  art  the  same,  as,  when  in  reons  past, 

Set  like  a  jewel  hi  an  iceberg  crown, 
Some  hurrying  glacier,  glittering,  frigid,  vast. 

From  arctic  polar  regions,  rolled  thee  down 
And  left  thee,  to  the  rest,  thou  well  hadst  earned ; 

I  watch,  from  underneath  thy  frowning  brows. 
The  bluest  furrows,  that  were  ever  turned 

By  father  Neptune's  white-winged,  wind-blown  ploughs. 


X. 

There  shalt  thou  stand,  a  sentinel  for  aye — 

A  hoary  monitor  of  bye-gone  days — 
While  countless  companies  shall  pass  away, 

And  tongues  unnumbered,  celebrate  thy  praise. 
Thou  wert  the  grand  cathedral  of  our  sires ; 

And,  generations  yet  unborn,  shall  flock 
From  gargoyled  towers,  and  decorated  spires, 

To  praise  their  father's  God,  on  MINISTER  ROCK ! 

Lockport,  N.  I7.,  July  15,  1879. 


:/;;: 


